Low-value health care is common and expensive for individuals and society.
It is a medical test, treatment, or procedure that provides no ‘net benefit’ when weighing the health benefits with the potential to cause harm; the cost of the test, procedure, or treatment; and whether similar benefits may be available in alternate forms of care.
Nearly 50% of patients in the U.S. will receive at least one low-value test or procedure per year.
Prior research and a report from the National Academy of Medicine estimate that approximately $76-101 billion of annual health care spending in the U.S. may be considered unnecessary or wasteful.
It accounts for up to 30% of health care spending in the U.S.
Cardiovascular care may be prone to a high frequency of low-value tests and procedures.
In a new statement, researchers reviewed the current scope and impact of low-value cardiovascular care.
The statement proposes solutions to reduce low-value cardiovascular care and areas for future research priorities.
Researchers explain several existing options for reducing low-value cardiovascular care:
For patients: Patient education and shared decision-making may help reduce low-value care.
These approaches may also be most useful when misconceptions exist about the intended purpose of a test or treatment.
For professionals: A “layered” approach to reducing low-value care may be most effective, such as through education, audit and feedback, and behavioral science tools (“nudges”) to shift behaviors and practices, for example—defaulting to generic rather than brand name medication use.
For payers and policy leaders: Interventions to reduce low-value care include national insurance coverage determinations; prior authorization, which involves obtaining insurance approval for certain tests and treatments; alternative payment models that reward lower costs and higher quality health care; value-based insurance designs that financially penalize low-value care; and medical liability reform to reduce defensive medical practices.
Low-value health care is a complex problem.
Achieving meaningful reductions in low-value cardiovascular care requires a multi-disciplinary approach that includes continuous research, implementation, evaluation and adjustment, while ensuring equitable access to care.
If you care about heart disease, please read studies about food that may harm your heart rhythm, and antioxidant drug that may protect against stroke and heart attack.
For more information about heart health, please see recent studies about drug combo that could halve your risk of heart attack, stroke, and results showing that one cup of nitrate-rich vegetables per day may prevent heart disease.
The study was conducted by Vinay Kini et al., and published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.
