Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care, Health Care Systems / 21.07.2016
Interventions Involving Patients and Providers Required To Reduce Low-Value Care
Medicalresearch.com Interview with:
Alex Mainor, JD, MPH
Research Project Coordinator
The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice
Lebanon, NH 03756
Carrie H. Colla, Alexander J. Mainor, Courtney Hargreaves, Thomas Sequist, Nancy Morden
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Waste in the healthcare system is an important concern to healthcare providers, patients, policymakers, and taxpayers, and is estimated to account for 30% of all healthcare costs. Low-value care can expose patients to unnecessary costs for little or no medical benefit, or to potential harm from unnecessary tests and procedures. In recent years, the concept of low-value care has gained wider acknowledgement and acceptance as a pressing concern for the healthcare system, and many interventions have been studied to reduce the use of this wasteful care. However, the landscape of these interventions has not been studied in a systematic and comprehensive way.
In this review, we found that interventions to reduce the use of wasteful medical care are often studied and published selectively. Findings suggest that interventions using clinical decision support, clinician education, patient education, and interventions combining elements from each have strong potential to reduce low-value care.
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