Reducing medical costs
A very interesting report on the matter, was published on 29th. August, in a local English daily about the matter of high medical costs in USA. It stated, and I quote: "Get doctors to quit ordering unnecessary procedures and tests"! This was based on an article from the US Business
News website which wrote and I quote: “That evidence suggests that some doctors dole out more treatment, and yet their patients don't fare better.” It also quoted a US interventional cardiologist Dr. Eric Topol; who stated that: "Doctors have an incentive to use 'stents' more often than necessary"! Possibly this relates to the medical insurance system being practiced there. It was also stated in the article that drugs can benefit patients with partial blocks rather than 'stents'; though drugs take some time to work while the 'stent' is an "instant fix"!
However, doctors in general believe that in the interest of quality diagnosis and treatment; it is better to do a number of tests. Even if findings are negative, it ensures elimination of certain causes to ensure proper and correct diagnosis.
Going back say around 25 years or so, there were not so many tests and it needed the doctor's diagnostic skill to interpret the patient's complains and a detailed physical examination by stethoscope backed by pathological examination of blood, stool and urine, plus X-ray. Nowadays in addition we have more detailed chemical examination of blood, stool and urine and angiography along with X-ray, and may be stress test also! Given that in the USA insurance pays most of the doctors' fees, surgical charges and medicines, doctors there prefer a surgical rather than a pathological treatment, which could be less expensive, but financially not so rewarding for the doctor!
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