Doctors call for end to 45 common medical tests

msnbc.com ^ | 4/4/12 | msnbc.com news services

[ColdOne]

WASHINGTON — Old checklist for doctors: order that test, write that prescription. New checklist for doctors: first ask yourself if the patient really needs it.

Nine medical societies, including the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American College of Cardiology, representing nearly 375,000 physicians are challenging the widely held perception that more health care is better, releasing lists Wednesday of tests and treatments their members should no longer automatically order.

The 45 items listed include:

* Don't repeat colonoscopies within 10 years of a first such test * Don't perform early imaging for most back pain * Don't do brain scans for patients who fainted but didn't have seizures * Don't prescribe antibiotics for mild- to-moderate sinusitis unless symptoms last for seven or more days or worsen * Don’t perform stress cardiac imaging or advanced non-invasive imaging in the initial evaluation of patients without cardiac symptoms unless high-risk markers are present * Don't perform PAP smears on women younger than 21 or who have had a hysterectomy for a non-cancer disease * No advanced imaging or bone scans in patients with early-stage breast or low-grade prostate cancer * Don’t done bone scan screening for osteoporosis in women younger than 65 or men younger than 70 with no risk factors * Don't perform routine cancer screening on dialysis patients with limited life expectancies * No chemotherapy for sickest cancer patients

[what's up]

Yes, there are too many tests...largely because people expect Gov't to pay or their employers are expected to provide every medical service.

Return to a consumer-based free market system. People can pick on their own, health companies compete for the consumer and costs for tests come down.

[bkopto]

Benefits cost alot. Radiology nurses are expensive. Depends also on the state - CA very expensive. Also, if imaging center runs 365 days a year, it adds up even more.

[bgill]

This is step one toward the death panels.

[hal ogen]

Stay healthy or die...everyone’s future.

[JediJones]

This is a way they are going to ration. It isn’t just tests they are going to ration, it is also treatments.

Those are listed in the article. Sound like the death panel recommendations the American public was warned about...

Don't perform:
*Routine cancer screening on dialysis patients with limited life expectancies
*Chemotherapy for sickest cancer patients

[Osage Orange]

Again....I’m in the “business”...and I know of zero nurses making $200k a year...doing what you have described.

[only1percent]

Medical malpractice liability doesn’t arise from bad outcomes alone, but from bad outcomes caused by failing to follow professional standards. Plaintiffs won’t be allowed to reach a jury on claims based on violating outdated standards.

[bkopto]

200,000/365 = $550/day
550/10hr/day = $55/hr (remember this INCLUDES the benefits!)

[autumnraine]

So I had a hysterectomy from hemoraging fibroids... so let me guess. Insurance company will now have valid reason to deny pap? My mom had a hysterectomy and ended up with ovarian cancer!

[dforest]

If the mandate holds, the doctors can still be sued.

Doctors that don’t want to work for the government will move on to something else. They might set up in another country not too far from here that wants to make money, or they will just move on to something else.

We are going to end up with 3rd world doctors and crappy care.

I guess that is the point. Kill people and the problems are solved.

Maybe that is why all those caskets are kept in storage.

[Osage Orange]

With all due respect....you don’t know what you are talking about.

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[trisham]

I rarely watch the news these days. I’d rather read it here, where I can feel less like I am under assault.

[bkopto]

That's a strong statement. I beg to differ as my radiology group is going through this process right now.

You don't need to take things personally. Your initial point was tangential to begin with.

The initial guy said MRIs were way overpriced,and my point was that they are not.

Regards

[Osage Orange]

So...you personally are paying an RN 200K a year?

Somehow I doubt that.

[bkopto]

NOT AN RN, RN SERVICES. There is a difference. Consider what benefits cost: FICA, 401K, health insurance, Medicare, etc.

[redgolum]

Which is another reason we are being pushed to a socialized system. We are half way there. These tests are often a make or break thing for the practice.

[redgolum]

Look at the total benefit package, and that it takes more than one nurse if you operate 7u days a week. The cost of health insurance is often higher than the salary.

[Osage Orange]

Here's what you said...and to what I replied to..

Nurse to start IVs and sedate claustrophobic pt + benefits: 200K.Period.

If you meant maybe 2 and half or three nurses then I can see it.......I am in the business... And know the going rates.

But there isn't one nurse in your scenario making 200k a year.

Are you both saying I'm wrong?

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

•PAP smears on women younger than 21 or who have had a hysterectomy for a non-cancer disease

These darlings are aware that the PAP smear is for Cervical Cancer and the cervix is often left in place?

•Bone scan screening for osteoporosis in women younger than 65 or men younger than 70 with no risk factors

Glad this rule was not in place prior to this. My mom's bones would still look like Swiss cheese rather then gradually growing stronger with the treatment she is getting now.