Study: ER MDs are ordering too many advanced diagnostic scans
A recently published study in the medical journal Academic Emergency Medicine made some truly eye-opening findings concerning the practice of defensive medicine, meaning when physicians order an excess of diagnostic exams out of concerns over a possible misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose. The study, performed by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, found that 97 percent of the 435 emergency room physicians who took part in a survey indicated that they had ordered advanced diagnostic scans — CT scans, MRIs, etc. — that were medically unnecessary, and that over 85 percent believed this practice was widespread. […]