It’s been a couple of years, so you decide to see your primary-care physician for a physical.
You feel fine, but it’s the responsible thing to do. You get your blood pressure measured and your blood drawn. Within a few days you’ll get the lab report that will give you the readout on the amount of cholesterol and sugar in your blood. (This drill is so routine that you and your doctor don’t even discuss the implications of a possible bad test result.) If you’ve entered your middle years, he’ll probably ask if you want the lab to test your blood for PSA, a screening test that can tell you if you’re at an elevated risk for prostate cancer.
You figure it’s probably good to get out in front of these things, so you nod yes. Insurance covers it anyway.
Congratulations – you’ve just stepped onto a conveyor belt pulling you into a broken system that delivers disappointing results at ever-increasing cost. To wit: The United States spends roughly twice as much per capita as most of the nations of Western Europe, whose citizens on average outlive us by a couple of years. Our own national Institute of Medicine says we waste $210 billion annually on treatments of no or marginal benefit. In a study last year, researchers from the Mayo Clinic went through 10 years of the New England Journal of Medicine, from 2001 through 2010. Of the established tests and procedures reevaluated in studies in the journal, 40 percent were found to be worthless.
Read the full report here.
It’s important to keep in mind that while we criticize and critique our health care system, we should not minimize the value of the persons who have dedicated themselves to the study of medicine. When we or one of our love ones are sick we are often beholden to the artful and skilled physician. However, as a patient or concerned loved-one asking good questions should always be encouraged.
The Men’s Health article When to Say No to Your Doctor is worthy of your review.
Contact Steven G. Cosby, MHSA with questions or to request more information and to schedule a healthcare plan evaluation, savings analysis or group plan solution for your company.
