Clinicians Encouraged to Care about Screening Costs
A new
research report makes the bold suggestion that clinicians should be actively involved in discussing the economic impact that new screening methods have on their patients and the surrounding community. While it is certainly important that patients are offered the most up-to-date methods of screening, it is also important that patients are placed in undue financial restraints as a result of the testing. Clinicians can give a credible voice to the problem that could reduce the cost of some screening and make preventive health care more accessible to a wider population.
Several examples of expensive testing are mentioned in the research article as areas of economic concern. Those examples include:
- Breast MRI for breast cancer screening which is a highly valuable test but also costs ten times more than a standard mammogram.
- Use of PET scan technology for cancer staging.
- Treatment costs for cancer treatment that includes screening as a part of the process for determining the development and changes of the disease.
There are three major reasons that are stated in the report as to why clinicians should care about these issues:
- Patients have to pay for a percentage of their medical care so prohibitive costs limit important screening.
- Health care funds need to be divvied up appropriately so the most expensive testing may not be the best in some cases.
- Clinicians should be capable of informing patients fully about the costs, pros and cons of different screening options.
Question of the Day: Will clinicians play a greater role in concern for the economics of screening?photo link
