Survey Says: Specialists in Pennsylvania Use Imaging to Avoid Lawsuits
Physicians in specialties that pay the most for medical liability insurance in Pennsylvania say they are overusing medical imaging tests and therapies to protect themselves against medical liability suits, according to a survey published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.1 Click for study.
"We found that defensive medicine was widespread among high-risk specialists practicing in Pennsylvania, with 9 of 10 respondents reporting defensive practices," said the study. Three quarters of physicians said that they "often" use such defensive practices as over-ordering diagnostic tests, making unnecessary referrals, and avoiding high-risk patients.
- The survey found that, among those physicians who identified their most recent defensive-medicine act, 43 percent reported using medical imaging in clinically unnecessary circumstances.
- More than 50% of emergency room physicians, orthopedic surgeons, and neurosurgeons who reported their most recent medical action that resulted from their concern over liability said it involved ordering CT scans, MRI tests, or X-rays that were not medically necessary.
The authors concluded that the prevalence of such activity, coupled with the cost of the procedures that are usually order, "lends weight to arguments that the total cost of defensive medicine is substantial."
1"Defensive Medicine Among High-Risk Specialist Physicians in a Volatile Malpractice Environment," Studdert, DM, et al, Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol 293, No 21, pp 2609-2617, June 1, 2005.
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