TUESDAY, Oct. 25, 2005 (HealthDay News) -- Doctors' behaviors can affect regional health-care spending in the United States, says a study by researchers at Dartmouth Medical School and the VA Outcomes Group.
The study, published in the Oct. 24 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, found that doctors in regions where health-care spending is high are more likely to order tests, referrals and treatments for their patients than doctors in regions with low health-care spending.
Doctors' behaviors may offer one explanation for the dramatic differences in health-care costs across the United States. For example, health-care spending averages less than $5,000 a year for each Medicare beneficiary in Portland, Ore., and more than $10,000 in Miami.
The researchers analyzed responses in a survey completed by 5,490 primary-care doctors across the United States. In the surveys, the doctors were presented with clinical scenarios and asked how often they would order a specific test, referral or treatment for each patient.
The study found that doctors in regions with higher health-care spending ordered more tests, referrals and treatments for their patients than doctors in regions with lower health-care spending. For example, doctors in high-spending areas said they would order an MRI scan 82 percent of the time for a 35-year-old man with prolonged back pain and foot weakness after heavy lifting. For the same patient, doctors in low-spending areas would order an MRI 69 percent of the time.
The researchers did acknowledge that it's unlikely that doctor behavior is the only factor influencing higher levels of health-care spending in some parts of the country. They said that patient expectations may also be a factor in health-care spending.
More information
The Nemours Foundation has more on why doctors order lab tests.
