Medical panels question unnecessary tests, treatments

Medical panels have called on doctors and patients to question some commonly used tests and therapies that are often unnecessary and can cause pointless harm. Nine leading US physician specialty societies have identified 45 procedures, treatments and tests that are routinely used but may not always be necessary. The coalition which represents 375,000 physicians is going to release the list on Wednesday as part of the ABIM (American Board of Internal Medicine) Foundation's Choosing Wisely conducted in conjunction with Consumer Reports magazine. Eight other specialty boards are preparing to follow suit with additional lists of procedures their members should perform far less often. The list includes many common tests done for low risk patients such as chest X-rays before surgery, EKGs done routinely during visits, MRI and CT scans ordered after a low back pain, simple faint or headache. The list also includes many unnecessary treatments like prescribing antibiotics after mild sinusitis. The “Choosing Wisely” campaign is seeking to address one of the root causes of the high cost of healthcare in the US and give confidence to patients to ask their doctors whether they really need a definite test or treatment. According to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) estimate, as much as 30 percent of healthcare in the US is unnecessary and wasted. “This is an independent effort … but it's all part of the same realization that the public and the government and frankly the whole private sector recognizes, which is that the costs of care are unsustainable,” said president and CEO of the ABIM Foundation Christine Cassel. “What this effort does is it puts specific kinds of tests and treatments that are identified by the specialists in that field.” She predicted that even if the Supreme Court strikes down the law or Congress repeals it, private health plans will continue their shift toward rewarding better quality care instead of paying for volume. “Their business model was in the fee-for-service system where more is better," Cassel added. "What everybody is realizing now is that more is actually not always better and we need to have a better informed approach about how we make our choices.”