Medicare Malfeasance?

The lead article in today’s New York Times, “Medicare Claims Showing Overuse for CT Scanning,” gives a good example of the way oversight can improve medical practices under the new healthcare bill. According to federal researchers, a significant number of hospitals are conducting two CT scans of patients on the same day. The major concern in this occurrence involves unnecessary exposure to radiation when a more measured approach can be pursued instead. CT scans expose patients to approximately 300 times as much radiation as a chest x-ray so doing them twice (700x) involves a major risk.

At major teaching hospitals this practice of double scans is less than one percent — the main concern appears to be community hospitals in rural areas. While the double scans, one often involving the use of iodine as a follow up, are primarily ordered by doctors, hospitals still can implement quality protocols to prevent them from occurring on the same day. And the savings for Medicare can be significant.

While there is no evidence that the double tests are being used to generate additional revenue, they certainly due contribute to our spiraling healthcare costs when other methods can be pursued instead. And given that the health of the patient is our ultimate goal, one hopes that this article in The New York Times will serve a useful purpose.