Houston, we have a problem….
It is hard to improve healthcare value when patients are confused and when unnecessary treatment is recommended……
Patients are referred to specialists when it is not necessary. The referral process can be “perilous” for patients
“Recent research strongly suggests that failures in the coordination of care are common and can create serious quality concerns….For example, referrals from primary care physicians to specialists often include insufficient information, and consultation reports from specialists back to primary care physicians are often late and inadequate.”
“The dysfunctional interface between primary care and specialty care in the United States often leads to suboptimal patient outcomes and to major inefficiencies in the delivery of health care. These inefficiencies lead to unnecessary demand on specialist services.”
Patients don’t remember what they’re told in the office:
“Fact: Studies have shown that 40-80% of the medical information patients are told during office visits is forgotten immediately, and nearly half of the information retained is incorrect.”
“Three separate studies come to conclusions that can be summarized as the “50% rule.” One found that 50% of patients leave an office visit not understanding what they were told by the physician. In another study, when physicians asked patients to restate the physician's instructions, the patients responded incorrectly 47% of the time. A third study reported that 50% of patients, when asked to state how they were supposed to take a prescribed medication, did not understand how the physician had prescribed the medication.”
One of every four dollars spent goes to waste
An estimated 25% of medical spending goes toward waste
“In the failure of care delivery, failure of care coordination, and overtreatment or low-value care categories, the data from this review suggest that more than $200 billion in waste remains in the US health care system. There is compelling empirical evidence in all 3 categories that interventions can produce meaningful savings and may reduce waste by as much as half.”
From the Journal of the American Medical AssociationWrong diagnosis
“A conservative estimate found that 5 percent of U.S. adults who seek outpatient care each year experience a diagnostic error.
Postmortem examination research spanning decades has shown
that diagnostic errors contribute to approximately 10 percent of
patient deaths.
Medical record reviews suggest that diagnostic errors account for
6 to 17 percent of hospital adverse events.
Diagnostic errors are the leading type of paid medical malpractice
claims, are almost twice as likely to have resulted in the patient’s death compared to other claims, and represent the highest pro- portion of total payments.”