IATROGENIC - MEDICAL HARM
Can Seeing the Doctor Really Cause More Harm Than Good?
According to a researcher at Harvard Medical School, the answer is that it sometimes, and even often, can:
...And especially if you're well and not actually in need of a checkup or any medical intervention.
Below is an excerpt from an article entitled: A checkup for the checkup: Do you really need a yearly physical?
This article is from Harvard Health Publications which references a study from the Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School.
The referenced study entitled Improving Value in Health Care - Against the Annual Physical by Ateev Mehrotra, M.D., M.P.H, and Allan Prochazka, M.D. was originally published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
According to a researcher at Harvard Medical School, the answer is that it sometimes, and even often, can:
...And especially if you're well and not actually in need of a checkup or any medical intervention.
Below is an excerpt from an article entitled: A checkup for the checkup: Do you really need a yearly physical?
This article is from Harvard Health Publications which references a study from the Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School.
The referenced study entitled Improving Value in Health Care - Against the Annual Physical by Ateev Mehrotra, M.D., M.P.H, and Allan Prochazka, M.D. was originally published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
A checkup for the checkup: Do you really need a yearly physical?
Harvard Health Publications - Harvard Health Blog
Amy Ship, MD October 23, 2015
...Several large studies have shown that these annual visits don’t make any difference in health outcomes. In other words, being seen by your doctor once a year won’t necessarily keep you from getting sick, or even help you live longer.
And some of the components of an annual visit may actually cause harm.
Lab tests and exams that are ordered for healthy patients (as opposed to people with symptoms or known illnesses) are statistically more likely to be “false positives” — that is, when test results suggest a problem that doesn’t exist.
In an editorial recently published in The New England Journal of Medicine, Drs. Ateev Mehrotra and Allan Prochazka explored the complex issues surrounding annual physical exams. In the name of improving “value” in health care, they argue that these routine visits should not continue.
The authors recommend that health plans and government programs no longer... use regular checkups as a measure of health care quality.
http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/a-checkup-for-the-checkup-do-you-really-need-a-yearly-physical-201510238473
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