Walt Bodanich and Jo Craven McGinty have an article in the New York Times about the overuse of CT scans. Recent data on the use of CT scans are disturbing. The authors point out that:
Performing two scans in succession is rarely necessary, radiologists say, yet some hospitals were doing that more than 80 percent of the time for their Medicare chest patients, according to Medicare outpatient claims from 2008, the most recent year available.
When the "mammogram controversy" exploded several months ago, much of the debate concerned payment for the mammograms (and the scientists' recommendations were roundly assaulted). It turns out the scientists were mostly correct and they were trying to weigh cost and risk (something too many people ignore). There is a tendency to focus on the probable consequences or risks of "doing nothing" and to forget there are also risks for acting. The article points out that:
Double scans expose patients to extra radiation while heaping millions of dollars in extra costs on an already overburdened Medicare program. A single CT scan of the chest is equal to about 350 standard chest X-rays, so two scans are twice that amount.
No comments:
Post a Comment