Expensive care doesn’t buy better health, study finds
Hospitalized patients treated by physicians who order more or more expensive tests and procedures are just as likely to be readmitted or to die as patients treated by doctors who order fewer or less expensive tests, according to research led by Harvard Medical School and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine on Monday, is believed to be the first to examine the impact of individual physicians’ spending patterns on patient outcomes. “If you spend more money on a car or a TV, you tend to get a nicer car or a better TV,” said senior author Anupam B. Jena, the Ruth L. Newhouse Associate Professor of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School. “Our findings show that’s not the case when it comes to medical care. Spending more doesn’t always mean you get better health.” Research on variations in spending and outcomes among geographic...