5. Unnecessay Care

Services that add to expenses without improving health.

• Prescribing antibiotics for nonbacterial infections: 70% of patients with acute bronchitis are prescribed antibiotics, a rate that has been increasing over time.
• Imaging for routine low back pain: an estimated 3.8 million Americans receive routine imaging for low back pain each year.

• American medical providers spend four times as much time interacting with insurance companies compared to Canadians.

Inefficient care due to systems errors and failures of coordination.

• Excessive operating room turnover times
• Lack of interoperability between electronic health records, resulting in missing information

Excessive costs of supplies, equipment, and services, which are then passed on to the patient.

• MRIs cost approximately $1,080intheU.S.and$ $1,080 in the U.S. and$280 in France, mostly due to differences in price setting.

Billing for services that were not rendered.

• “Upcoding” for a procedure or diagnosis that is more complex than the actual procedure or diagnosis.

Failing to provide services to a patient that will prevent future medical need.

• Failing to provide appropriate immunizations or counseling