
Men with Low-Risk Prostate Cancer Receiving Unnecessary, Expensive Treatment
Men without low-risk prostate cancer have been found to be undergoing potentially unnecessary and expensive treatment. The instilled fee-for-service healthcare model is suggested a cause for blame in the rise of unnecessary tests. NBC News reports:
Despite new guidelines recommending “watchful waiting” for men diagnosed with prostate cancers that carry a low risk of death, more are undergoing potentially unnecessary, but expensive, treatment with high-tech machines according to a large study published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
What to do about prostate cancer -- including whom to screen for it and when to treat, or not to treat, has
The study -- which concludes that “use of advance treatment technologies has increased” among low-risk patients -- found that between 2004 and 2009, use of robotic surgery and intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) both saw significant increases in men most experts regard as inappropriate candidates for such treatments.
Read the full story here:
Newsletter
Stay ahead of policy, cost, and value—subscribe to AJMC for expert insights at the intersection of clinical care and health economics.