Medicare outpatient claim for 2008 are indicate that thousands of Medicare patient role received unneeded two-fold CT scans that yr . The practice not only costs the Medicare curriculum gazillion of dollars , but disclose patients to potentially dangerous doses of irradiation .
Claims for 2008 were the most late forms available , but those who ’ve see the number trust the recitation has gone unchecked . fit in to the Times :
In 2008 , about 75,000 affected role received double scans , one using iodine contrast to check origin flow , and one that did not .
Some hospitals were doing this 80 % of the time for their chest patients . Medicare official and radiotherapist agree that that ’s way too high , as the need for performing that form of dual procedure — such as for detecting elusive tumors — is rare at best . rate as mellow as even 30 % are considered unacceptably high , peculiarly when the national norm is 5.4 % . What ’s more , Medicare pay out $ 25 million to hospitals doing double scans .
The understanding behind the practice is turbid , though , as it does n’t fall so neatly into the “ hospital ask money ” class . One theory is the differing opinions among physicians regarding the kinds of care their patients need . Some facilities , particularly in lowly rural residential district , might perform the two tests as a means of pass judgment their patients quickly and expeditiously . two-fold scanning is also democratic among younger , privately insured patients .
finally , it becomes a matter of changing medico ’ belief about when such tests should be administer . That form of public debate get fourth dimension . [ NYT , Image Credit : Li Wa / Shutterstock ]
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