Studies Put Price on Cost of Care Considered Futile or of Little Benefit

Two new studies have put a price tag on healthcare services considered of little benefit to patients. In both reports, researchers raised questions about the role that healthcare providers play in delivering potentially unnecessary care.

One study examined the cost of care for patients who were taken by ambulance to the most sophisticated, well-equipped trauma centers despite injuries that required far less intensive care.

The study, in the latest issue of the journal Health Affairs, looked at where nearly 300,000 patients in the Pacific Northwest, California, Utah and Colorado received emergency medical care after calling 911. The analysis found that emergency responders delivered one out of three low-risk patients to the most intensive trauma centers, known by the designations level one and level two.

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Source: Modern Healthcare