Do You Need That Test? (Medical test)

If health care costs are ever to be brought under control, the nation’s doctors will have to play a leading role in eliminating unnecessary treatments. By some estimates, hundreds of billions of dollars are wasted this way every year. So it is highly encouraging that nine major physicians’ groups have identified 45 tests and procedures (five for each specialty) that are commonly used but have no proven benefit for many patients and sometimes cause more harm than good.

Many patients will be surprised at the tests and treatments that these expert groups now question. They include, for example, annual electrocardiograms for low-risk patients and routine chest X-rays for ambulatory patients in advance of surgery.

The doctors were prodded into action by a conscience-provoking article by Dr. Howard Brody, director of an institute that explores ethical issues in health care, published in The New England Journal of Medicine in early 2010. Dr. Brody criticized the performance of medical groups during the health care debates, saying they were too concerned about protecting doctors’ incomes while refusing to contemplate measures (beyond malpractice reform) to reduce health care costs.

He urged each specialty society, using rigorous scientific approaches, to develop “top five” lists of tests and treatments whose elimination for major categories of patients would save the most money quickly “without depriving any patient of meaningful medical benefit.” A foundation established by the American Board of Internal Medicine financed a successful test of the approach in three primary care specialties and then encouraged a broad range of specialty groups to develop their own lists.

The first nine, including cardiology, oncology, radiology and primary care, issued “top five” lists last Wednesday. Among items on those lists are: cardiac stress tests for annual checkups in asymptomatic patients; brain imaging scans after fainting; antibiotics for uncomplicated sinus...

It sounds good, but good luck without majot tort reform. IIRC, tort lawyers are one of the largest rat campaign donors.

Medicine's Ethical Responsibility for Health Care Reform — The Top Five List It's a FReebie.

At least Brody has a MD degree, and the next to last paragraph basically says that he does primary care. Don't you just love those who write about reducing the costs of medicine without ever practicing medicine?

Conservatives must now switch to support legal power in health care. The Liberals are going to try and spread their death culture to the very young, handicapped and elderly. We are going to need to sue them to make it risky for doctors to cooperate in the killing machine with them.

The list of unnecessary tests will grow larger as an unelected medical costs board decides to limit reimbursements for certain test to $5 each. I won’t sell a product for less than it costs me to produce...I don’t expect doctors to behave any differently.

If Republicans had a brain among themselves, they would champion national legal care legislation. The government created the playing field for legal matters, it operates the system, it writes the rules, it determines the outcomes. If ever there was a segment of the economy which Americans have an inherent right to participate, it's the legal system.

Yet in that same system, government can impoverish a litigant by simply waiting as bills accumulate. Government can litigate against you and then it requires you to pay to defend yourself while you are simultaneously paying (through taxes) to prosecute yourself. There has never been a better time to advocate for national legal care where every American is entitled to affordable and competent and accessible legal services.

Re: Do you need that medical test?

Suddenly, the Hard Left MSM is in love with fewer tests.

This is the third “favorable” MSM review I've seen in one week.

Extreme political caution is advised for Conservatives.

As the true financial cost of ObamaCare becomes reality, serious cutbacks in medical services will be essential.

The MSM is trying to soften the political consequences for the Democratic Party.

And cutbacks on malpractice lawsuits?

That’ll be the day!

Tort lawyers - the guys who advertise on TV - have been near the top of the Democratic Party donor list for the past 20 years!

If health care costs are ever to be brought under control, the nation’s doctors will have to play a leading role in eliminating unnecessary treatments.

If the main goal is to reduce costs, then also eliminate necessary treatments to certain groups of people.The elderly and poor people are two groups that come to mind.
That would save costs two ways.
Besides the immediate savings in denying treatment, it would shorten the lives of some people and save a lot of future expenses.

The elderly vote: so you have to be very careful on how you do this.
Perhaps a slot limit for voters such as you can only vote between the ages of 18 and 70 years of age.
I'm sure Obama and his minions are working on solutions. Nothing final ..yet. -tom

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