The Medical Professionalism Blog

This week, journal articles abounded on the potential contributors to health care costs.  What’s patient satisfaction, defensive medicine or treatment guidelines got to do with it?  Read some of the latest studies and see what you think:

The Cost of Satisfaction: A National Study of Patient Satisfaction, Health Care Utilization, Expenditures, and Mortality

In a nationally representative sample, higher patient satisfaction was associated with less emergency department use but with greater in-patient use, higher overall health care and prescription drug expenditures, and increased mortality.

Incidence and Costs of Defensive Medicine Among Orthopedic Surgeons in the United States: A National Survey Study

The authors estimate that the national cost of defensive medicine for the specialty of orthopedic surgery is $2 billion annually.

Stemming the tide of overtreatment in U.S. healthcare

This article discusses the efforts of theAmericanCollegeof Physicians and others to curb overuse of services.