Wednesday, March 21, 20072
Are physicians overtreating?
A survey suggests that the public thinks so:
About 52% of respondents said physicians overtreat patients because of concerns about medical malpractice lawsuits, 45% said "to make more money" and 44% said "to meet patient demands," the survey found.My quick estimates of the reasons why physicians overorder tests would be 70-80% due to defensive medicine, 20-30% due to patient demand - although there is overlap here with defensive medicine - and 5-15% because of financial incentive. (via The Antidote)
Comments
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Emily DeVoto, Ph.D.,
Kevin, thanks for the acknowledgment. I hope your readers will check out the wonderful comment that was left by Diora on the related post on my blog: http://health-counterspin.blogspot.com/2007/03/its-not-just-me.html
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Anonymous
Just 5-15% because of the financial incentive? Who is kidding who, Kevin?
Post a CommentI think this person is my next guest blogger!
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9:02 PM