Physicians clearly recognize the problem of unnecessary care in the U.S. health system, and 87 percent say they always or almost always talk to their patients about avoiding an unnecessary test or procedure when their patients ask for one.
The findings come from the ABIM Foundation's latest report, "Unnecessary Tests and Procedures in the Health Care System: What Physicians Say About the Problem, the Causes and the Solutions." Survey results are based on responses from 600 practicing physicians from February 12 through March 21.
Here are a few of the report's key takeaways:
• The majority (73 percent) of physicians think the frequency of unnecessary tests and procedures in healthcare is a "somewhat serious problem" (44 percent) or "very serious problem" (29 percent).
• Seventy-two percent of physicians say the average physician prescribes an unnecessary test or procedure at least once a week.
• In their own practices, 47 percent of physicians say patients request an unnecessary test or procedure at least once a week, while 30 percent say this occurs at least several times per week.
• Primary care physicians (40 percent) are more likely to field patient requests for unnecessary care several times per week than specialists (24 percent).
• The majority (87 percent) of physicians say they always or almost always talk to patients about reasons to avoid a test or procedure when the patient requests one, and 70 percent of physicians say their patients always or often follow their advice and avoid the procedure.
• Still, more than half of physicians (53 percent) said they would ultimately order an unnecessary test of the patient was insistent. Forty percent of physicians said they would refuse to order it.
• Interestingly, physicians who see fewer than 100 patients per week are more likely to refuse a test (44 percent) than those who see 100 or more (32 percent).
• More than half (52 percent) of physicians said malpractice concerns are a reason they end up ordering unnecessary procedures or tests, while 36 percent said they do so "just to be safe" and 30 percent said they "want more information to reassure" themselves. Insistence from patients (28 percent) and the desire to keep patients happy (23 percent) were also highly cited.
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