Doctors Think Others Often Prescribe Unnecessary Care - 麻豆女优 Health News /news/doctors-think-others-often-prescribe-unnecessary-care/ 麻豆女优 Health News produces in-depth journalism on health issues and is a core operating program of 麻豆女优. Thu, 16 Apr 2026 04:45:31 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.5 /wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2023/04/kffhealthnews-icon.png?w=32 Doctors Think Others Often Prescribe Unnecessary Care - 麻豆女优 Health News /news/doctors-think-others-often-prescribe-unnecessary-care/ 32 32 161476233 Doctors Think Others Often Prescribe Unnecessary Care /news/doctors-think-others-often-prescribe-unnecessary-care/ /news/doctors-think-others-often-prescribe-unnecessary-care/#comments Thu, 01 May 2014 18:54:21 +0000 Three out of four physicians believe that fellow doctors prescribe an unnecessary test or procedure at least once a week, a survey released Thursday finds. The most frequent reasons that physicians order extraneous鈥攁nd costly鈥攎edical care are fears of being sued, impulses to be extra careful and desires to reassure their own assessments of the patient, the survey said.

聽was commissioned for Choosing Wisely, a two-year old campaign devised by a foundation created by internal medicine doctors that has persuaded to identify overused tests and procedures.聽The goal is to cut back on , which by some estimates may waste a third of the $2.8 trillion the country spends on health each year.

The campaign focuses on encouraging conversations between patients and doctors about the suspect treatments it identifies. In the survey, 47 percent of doctors said one patient a week requests something unnecessary. While most doctors believe they are most responsible for interceding, that when facing an insistent patient, they advise against it but still order the test. Another 5 percent said they just order the test.

“I think we’re afraid of not being liked,” said Dr. Donald Ford, a vice president at Hillcrest Hospital, which is part of the Cleveland Clinic Health System and located in Mayfield Heights, Ohio. “We want to be the hero to the patient.”

Not surprisingly, few of the doctors agree with health policy analysts who believe that the financial rewards that come from extra procedures are a major reason why they are ordered. Only 5 percent of physicians said they are influenced by the presence of new technology in their offices. Just 5 percent believe the fee-for-service-system of payment, where physicians are paid for each thing they do rather than a lump sum for keeping a patient healthy, plays a role.

At an event releasing the poll in Washington, D.C., Dr. Richard Baron, the president of the ABIM Foundation, which organized Choosing Wisely, said the campaign’s initial efforts have been a success, with 21 percent of doctors saying they are aware of it and a majority of them saying they have reduced the number of times they order unneeded tests and procedures. The campaign, however, has because a number of the medical societies omitted some of their most controversial moneymakers鈥攕uch as stents and spinal fusion鈥攆rom their lists of unnecessary treatments, while targeting procedures that are revenue sources of other specialties.

The poll of 600 physicians was conducted by PerryUndem Research/Communication from Feb. 12 through March 21. It has a margin of error of +/- 4 percentage points.

jrau@kff.org/

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Comments on: Doctors Think Others Often Prescribe Unnecessary Care /news/doctors-think-others-often-prescribe-unnecessary-care/ 麻豆女优 Health News produces in-depth journalism on health issues and is a core operating program of 麻豆女优. Thu, 16 Apr 2026 04:45:31 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.5 By: Putting A Lid On Waste: Needless Medical Tests Not Only Cost $200B 鈥 They Can Do Harm | U.S. Senior Citizen /news/doctors-think-others-often-prescribe-unnecessary-care/#comment-9055 Wed, 24 May 2017 09:51:24 +0000 #comment-9055 […] operating officer at the ABIM Foundation, said the Choosing Wisely campaign has been successful at starting a national conversation about unwarranted care. “I think we need massive change and that takes 15 years,” […]

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By: Putting A Lid On Waste: Needless Medical Tests Not Only Cost $200B 鈥 They Can Do Harm | AmericanBadassAdvocates.org /news/doctors-think-others-often-prescribe-unnecessary-care/#comment-9041 Sat, 20 May 2017 10:49:15 +0000 #comment-9041 […] operating officer at the ABIM Foundation, said the Choosing Wisely campaign has been successful at starting a national conversation about unwarranted care. 鈥淚 think we need massive change and that takes 15 years,鈥 Wolfson […]

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By: Study: Physicians Report Few Requests By Patients For 鈥楿nnecessary鈥 Treatments | North Carolina Health News /news/doctors-think-others-often-prescribe-unnecessary-care/#comment-2785 Tue, 17 Feb 2015 04:12:55 +0000 #comment-2785 […] wisdom suggests that doctors often give unnecessary treatments because patients demand them. Some estimate this care account for a third of the $2.8 trillion spent […]

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By: Study: Physicians Report Few Requests By Patients For 鈥楿nnecessary鈥 Treatments | Health Care /news/doctors-think-others-often-prescribe-unnecessary-care/#comment-2732 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 20:31:17 +0000 #comment-2732 […] wisdom suggests that doctors often give unnecessary treatments because patients demand them. Some estimate this care account for a third of the $2.8 trillion spent […]

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By: Patient demands minor drivers of unneeded procedures - Cambridge Management GroupCambridge Management Group /news/doctors-think-others-often-prescribe-unnecessary-care/#comment-2731 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 19:12:00 +0000 #comment-2731 […] wisdom suggests that doctors often give unnecessary treatments because patients demand them. Some estimate this care account for a third of the $2.8 trillion spent […]

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By: Study: Physicians Report Few Requests By Patients For 鈥楿nnecessary鈥 Treatments | Health Insurance Exchange /news/doctors-think-others-often-prescribe-unnecessary-care/#comment-2729 Thu, 12 Feb 2015 16:58:27 +0000 #comment-2729 […] wisdom suggests that doctors often give unnecessary treatments because patients demand them. Some estimate this care account for a third of the $2.8 trillion spent […]

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