Over the last few weeks we’ve been considering the problem of doctor’s feeling pressured to practice defensive medicine and the costs associated with that as well as some of the proposals that have been made to combat these problems. As we’ve noted in previous articles simply put defensive medicine is the practice of ordering medical tests, procedures,
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Defensive Medicine: Safe Harbors as a Solution
Today’s is the third post in our ongoing series on defensive medicine, its costs, and measures that have been proposed to combat it. In the first post we introduced defensive medicine, defined as the practice of ordering medical tests, procedures, or consultations of doubtful clinical value in order to protect the prescribing physician from malpractice suits. We also reviewed
READ MOREDefensive Medicine: Are Patient Compensation Systems the Answer?
In this series we are looking at defensive medicine, or “the practice of ordering medical tests, procedures, or consultations of doubtful clinical value in order to protect the prescribing physician from malpractice suits.” In our last post we considered the cost of defensive medicine and the most commonly proposed solution, tort reform. With surveys showing that 70% to
READ MOREDefensive Medicine: What can be done?
What is defensive medicine? Merriam Webster defines defensive medicine as the practice of ordering medical tests, procedures, or consultations of doubtful clinical value in order to protect the prescribing physician from malpractice suits. Further, as noted in a 2005 Journal of the American Medical Association article, Defensive medicine takes two main forms: assurance behavior and avoidance behavior.
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