Too Much Testing and Prescribing in the Health Industry

Quality of Healthcare

Cruz (2013) writes in her article “You’re Getting Too Much Healthcare” that an overabundance of tests and referrals can actually diminish the quality of care that a patient receives. The overall point of the article is that too much testing and prescribing can be harmful in that it could lead to a decline in the patient’s quality of life. So if care diminishes life quality for a patient it cannot be considered quality care. The fine line that practitioners need to walk is knowing when to say enough care is enough and not try to steer patients into getting more testing and prescriptions than they need.

It is essentially the same argument that Lichtenfeld (2011) makes: people are seen more as a source of profit for the healthcare industry, which tends to put profits before people. As a result practitioners are encouraged to prompt patients to get tested too much, to ask for another prescription, and to generally try to treat every single ailment even though no one’s health will ever be 100% perfect.

Cruz (2013) explains that the healthcare system in the United States is often rightly criticized for being too expensive and inefficient. She notes, however, that a major reason for this expense is the overuse of tests, referrals, and prescriptions. Testing, referral, and prescription practices are driven by a variety of factors, including physician incentives, malpractice concerns, and patient demand (Cruz, 2013). In many cases, these factors result in unnecessary or duplicate tests, referrals to specialists, and prescriptions for drugs that may not be needed. The overuse of tests, referrals, and prescriptions not only drives up healthcare costs, but it can also lead to serious harm. Overdiagnosis and overtreatment are major problems in the U.S. healthcare system, and they are often the result of too many tests, referrals, and prescriptions. By reducing the number of unnecessary tests, referrals, and prescriptions, the author argues that the nation can improve the quality of healthcare while also lowering costs.

In my opinion, Cruz (2013) is right on the mark with her article. It is something I have come across by others, like Lichtenfeld (2011), and it is a point worth making: excessive care can diminish quality of care. People do not understand their own bodies, their environments, or health. They have gotten away from natural and traditional medicine, and put a great deal of trust in experts and pharmaceutical researchers. They do not have the knowledge base to think for themselves, and practitioners do not empower them.

People are too quick to go to the doctor for any little ache or pain, and they often demand unnecessary tests and procedures. While it is important to receive quality care, this trend towards excessive care can actually diminish the overall quality of care in my opinion, and in Cruz’s (2013). When people overuse the healthcare system, it puts a strain on resources, and this can lead to longer wait times and less personal attention from doctors. In addition, people who receive too much healthcare may become reliant on it and lose their ability to take care of themselves.