Each Patient Counts: Massachusetts Medical Society Weblog

Defensive Medicine: Myth or Reality?

Here's an emergency doc whose blog post this week makes his vote clear: Defensive medicine is real.

He writes, "By the end of the shift, I was getting annoyed with myself because I kept second-guessing my decisions to order tests that would most likely be normal."

He adds, "Many physicians are afraid to practice rational medicine based upon clinical judgment and physical examination skills. No one wants to face the liability."

Read the whole post - it's worth your time.

Defensive Medicine Costs Mass. at Least $1.4 Billion

Today, the Mass. Medical Society released a study showing that defensive medicine wastes at least $1.4 billion annually in Massachusetts. These are tests, procedures, referrals, hospitalizations, or prescriptions ordered by physicians, solely out an excessive concern over being sued. Dr. Alan Woodward said, “Physicians practice defensive medicine because they don’t trust the medical liability system."

This is a low-ball figure, coming from a survey of just eight specialties. This estimate does not include tests and diagnostic procedures ordered by physicians in other specialties, observation admissions to hospitals, specialty referrals and consultations, or unnecessary prescriptions. The eight specialties represented in the survey account for only 46 percent of the physicians in the state.

While defensive medicine has been studied by many researchers, we believe it's the first study of defensive medicine of this scope ever conducted.

Read a news release about the study.
Read a summary of the study.