Intro by Ilene
Here is the list of procedures, tests and treatments to re-think or avoid. This first list includes 90 tests and procedures that "are often unnecessary and potentially harmful, compiled by 17 specialty groups representing more than 350,000 doctors."
Last year, in a campaign called Choosing Wisely, the Foundation of the American Board of Internal Medicine warned against another 45 tests, procedures and treatments that are often counterproductive. That list, endorsed by nine medical specialty organizations, brings the new "Don'ts" to 135.
"The idea is to curb unnecessary, wasteful and often harmful care, its sponsors say — not to ration care." (Doctor Groups Unite Against Unnecessary Tests & Procedures)
While searching for the "Don'ts," I found that this year's flu shot is doing a terrible job protecting senior citizens. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the vaccine is proving only 9% effective in people 65 and older against the predominant harsh flu strain this season. The findings explain the large numbers of seniors requiring hospitalization for treatment of the flu this year. The average effectiveness of the vaccine this year is 56%, also not very good.
Source: sonyafightslyme.blogspot.com via Shelly on Pinterest
Now there are 135.
That's how many medical tests, treatments and other procedures – many used for decades – physicians have now identified as almost always unnecessary and often harmful, and which doctors and patients should therefore avoid or at least seriously question.
The lists of procedures, released on Thursday by the professional societies of 17 medical specialties ranging from neurology and ophthalmology to thoracic surgery, are part of a campaign called Choosing Wisely. Organized by the American Board of Internal Medicine's foundation, it aims to get doctors to stop performing useless procedures and spread the word to patients that some don't help and might hurt.
"Americans' view of healthcare is that more is better," said Dr Glenn Stream, a family physician in Spokane, Washington, and board chairman of the American Academy of Family Physicians, which has identified 10 unnecessary procedures. "But there are a lot of things that are done frequently but don't contribute to people's health and may be harmful."
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Take a finding of abnormal cells in the cervix. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) says not to treat women whose Pap test for cervical cancer finds dysplasia unless the abnormalities persist for two years.
"Treatment damages the cervix and raises the risk in subsequent pregnancies," said ACOG Executive Vice President Dr Hal Lawrence. The abnormal cells are almost always the result of a viral infection that the body clears on its own, but women who think they mean impending cervical cancer will need convincing.
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ACOG has been trying to reduce the rate of elective cesareans for decades, and its Choosing Wisely list tells obstetricians not to schedule elective cesareans or induce labor before week 39. The rate of cesareans in the United States was 33 percent of deliveries in 2009, up from 21 percent in 1996, federal data show.
WORSE FOR BABIES, BETTER FOR REVENUES
The experience of Intermountain Healthcare, a group of hospitals and clinics in Utah, suggests why. The nonprofit recently cut its rate of inappropriate labor inductions and cesareans from 28 percent of births to 2 percent. That saved Utah $50 million a year in healthcare spending, mostly by reducing use of the neonatal intensive care unit, where many babies delivered in these ways wind up. But Intermountain also lost $9 million in annual billings.
"In our fee-for-service healthcare system," said Consumer Reports' Santa, "poor clinical outcomes for babies improve revenue streams for hospitals," and better care can reduce revenues.
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The pages and pages of lists raise an obvious question: How did so many worthless and even dangerous procedures become so widely used?
For one thing, there is no regulatory requirement that physicians prove a new procedure helps patients, as drug makers must do before selling a new pharmaceutical.
For another, "Americans want the latest, newest thing," said Dr Howard Brody of the University of Texas Medical Branch, whose 2010 challenge to physicians to identify worthless tests and treatments inspired Choosing Wisely. "Technological enthusiasm on the part of physicians and the general public makes them willing to adopt new things without rigorous testing. Only years later, and only if studies are done, do we see that it's no good."
Full article: Just say don't: Doctors question routine tests and treatments – Yahoo! News Canada.
