Uninformed Patients Get Costlier Treatment, Study Finds

Women who are also physicians are nearly 10 percent less likely to have an unscheduled cesarean section, a pricier treatment option than natural birth, according to a study from researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of British Columbia.

Physician mothers were 7 percent less likely to have an unplanned C-section in California and 8 percent less likely to have one in Texas. Furthermore, hospitals where providers have a financial incentive for performing C-sections administer the procedure at much higher rates, according to the study.  Although the cost of a C-section varies between hospitals, the procedure was $6,000 more expensive than a traditional delivery on average in 2006.

According to researchers, these findings support the physician-induced demand hypothesis — the idea that physicians shift patient demand toward procedures that benefit the physicians more when patients don't have the necessary medical knowledge to make the best treatment decisions.

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