Nearly twenty percent of diagnostic tests like MRIs and X-rays are ordered to protect physicians against possible lawsuits, according to a new survey.
The survey compiled responses from orthopedists in Pennsylvania, and the results were presented at the annual convention of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
Such defensive testing drives up already hefty health-care costs.
When broken down by specific procedures, 41 percent of CT scans, 56 percent of bone scans and 65 percent of ultrasounds were ordered defensively. Less than 10 percent of X-rays were ordered defensively.
Among those most likely to order tests were surgeons who had been sued in the last five years and surgeons who had been practicing for more than 15 years.
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