Unnecessary tests cost $6.8B in care

Unnecessary tests ordered by physicians led to at least $6.8 billion worth of misplaced health spending, reports FiercePracticeManagement. A new study led by physicians from the Mount Sinai Medical Center and the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York examined the cost of common medical practices that a work group of internists, family physicians, and pediatricians identified as being overused. According to the study, some of the most costly and common sources of misplaced health spending include complete blood cell count ordered at a routine physical exam, brand-name statins ordered before trying a generic drug first (accounting for $5.8 billion of the $6.8 billion total), blood and diagnostic tests ordered for patients with no related symptoms or risk factors, prescriptions for antibiotics for children without strep, and brain imaging on children who had fallen but displayed no signs of concussion. --Read the full post at FiercePracticeManagement