Institute:Office of National Coordinator (ONC) Workforce Training Curriculum
Component:Introduction to Health Care and Public Health in the U.S.
Unit:Financing Health Care - Part 2
Lecture:Methods of Controlling Rising Medical Costs
Slide content:Cost Drivers: Defensive Medicine & Patient Preference Defensive medicine Overutilization of services Tort reform Patient preference Request for specific test or medication Direct to consumer advertising 9
Slide notes:Two additional factors driving utilization are defensive medicine and patient preference. Defensive medicine is the prescribing of diagnostic and/or therapeutic measures to avoid malpractice litigation. The additional diagnostic value to avoid risk may contribute to over-utilization of some services, for example expensive imaging studies. Tort reform and the use of clinical guidelines discussed later in this lecture may help to lower costs in the future. Demand for new technology can be driven through the medias direct-to-consumer advertising about products and services that may imply additional health benefits through their adoption and use. The cost of this new technology may not be justified based on the marginal increase in value of care and treatment of patients. However, providers may begin using more expensive treatments due to patient demand. Health IT Workforce Curriculum Version 4.0 9