Contents tagged with choosing wisely
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By choosing wisely, physicians can help address the unsustainable trajectory of health care costs
By Richard Young, M.D.
“Every admitted patient should have a chest X-ray and a VDRL,” said one of my Type A personality internal medicine attending physicians during residency. The year was 1990 and this attitude was shared by a few other knowledgeable physicians at the time, though others questioned the practice and were more flexible in their medical decision-making. I would venture to guess that few family physicians or internists practice this way in 2012, but the practice is not completely dead.
A lot has changed since 1990. The total cost of U.S. health care was $724 billion and consumed 12.5 percent of the gross domestic product.1 In 2012, the total cost of U.S. health care is estimated to be $2.8 trillion and will consume 17.6 percent of GDP.2 This health care inflationary trend has continued unabated for the last 50 years.
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AAFP joins Choosing Wisely campaign to cut use of unnecessary medical interventions
AAFP joins Choosing Wisely campaign to cut use of unnecessary medical interventions
posted 04.12.12
AAFP has joined eight other medical specialty organizations to launch the Choosing Wisely … more