How to Steer Toward the Path of Least Treatment - NYTimes.com: Has American health care become overly aggressive? Many primary care doctors think so, according to a survey published last week in Archives of Internal Medicine. More than 40 percent of 627 primary care doctors who responded to the survey thought their own patients were overtreated; only 6 percent thought the patients received too little care.
Why so many tests and referrals? Limited time to spend with patients, fear of being sued and financial incentives to do more were among the reasons cited by the physicians. Patients often worry about the cost of overtreatment but fail to recognize the potential harm of undergoing too many tests and procedures.
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