Doing your part to stem overuse of the health care system, from the Harvard Heart Letter
You may have read about a Maryland cardiologist who lost his medical license because he implanted hundreds of unneeded stents into people's coronary arteries. In the April 2012 issue of the Harvard Heart Letter, Editor in Chief Thomas Lee, M.D., writes that such blatant overuse of the health care system is rare and that "the vast majority of doctors put the people they treat first, far ahead of any personal financial interests."
The main driver of overuse is the fragmented health care system itself. Add to that the near-weekly market introduction of a new drug, technique, or device that promises to improve our well-being, and you have an environment that conspires to fuel overuse and medical cost inflation.
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