MASSDEVICE ON CALL — A survey of U.S. medical groups found that few are willing to criticize uncertain treatments that put money in their members’ pockets.
When asked about potentially needless procedures, most doc groups cited treatments that were rarely used in practice or named procedures belonging to specialties other than their own. Most stood behind treatments that are considered uncertain yet lucrative, according to a joint report by Kaiser Health News and the Chicago Tribune.
Medical societies recently started distributing information about procedures for each specialty that doctors and patients should consider with caution. More than 50 specialty societies have selected at least 5 procedures each for doctors to be wary of and some hospitals have been active in publicizing the lists for their staff.
Many of the largest associations, however, selected procedures belonging to other specialties or those that have minimal impact to a doctor’s or hospital’s bottom line, according to the report.
"They were willing to throw someone else’s services into the arena, but not their own," Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice researcher Dr. Nancy Morden told the paper.
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