Overtreatment Is Common, Doctors Say New York Times Sept 2017
Summary of a survey published in PLOS One
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| 21 % | of medical care was unnecessary |
| 22 % | of prescriptions |
| 25 % | of tests |
| 11 % | of procedures |
| Fear of malpractice | 84.7% |
| Patient pressure/request | 59.0% |
| Difficulty accessing prior medical records | 38.2% |
| Borderline indications | 37.7% |
| Inadequate time to spend with patients | 37.4% |
| Lack of adequate information/previous medical history | 36.7% |
| Pressure from the institution/management | 20.8% |
| Looking good in performance evaluations | 13.4% |
| The hassle of communicating with other physicians | 11.9% |
| Pressure from colleagues | 11.8% |
| Financial security of physicians | 9.2% |
| I don’t think there is any overutilization | 1.1% |
Suspect that 20% overtreatment, etc., adds <10% to cost of medical care