Sunday, April 4, 2010

If you have the keys, you're more likely to drive it

Pitfalls of over use of testing in medicine

Continuing the discussion from the previous post:

Imaging and other tests can be a great help in diagnosis and measuring improvement.  Testing also increases cost for a patient, risk of side-effects, and even harm patient outcome.  It is surprising to learn the evidence behind multiple negative tests: even if a patient's tests show no direct problem, the more tests a patient has, the worse their health outcome.  This means we (as patients and doctors) should be judicious in our use of all testing, regardless of whether the insurance company will cover the cost.

As a recent commentary on the NPR show "Marketplace" points out, doctors who own a testing device are more likely to use them--regardless of clinical need or benefit to the patient.

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/03/30/am-cat-scans/


Patients should encourage informed consent from their doctors--information about the risks and benefits from any test or treatment recommended.  Doctors who own an x-ray machine, CT scan, or access to an MRI machine are more likely to use it.  Whether the increase is from a conscious drive to cover or justify machine expenses, or subconscious convenience of access--patients need to be encouraged to make informed decisions about their health care.

If you're looking for a chiropractic physician who will encourage you with informed options, check out:
www.TriSynergyChiro.com

1 comment:

  1. Dr. Anthony,
    I find it interesting that the rate of spine surgery in the U.S. is correlated to not only advanced imaging, but geographic location as well.

    http://www.orthonurse.org/portals/0/rates%20of%20advanced%20spinal%20imaging.pdf

    I know you agree that patients should try conservative care, such as chiropractic and ART first when they have back pain.


    Dr. LeBauer
    www.LeBauerPT.com

    ReplyDelete