Thaindian News

June 22, 2010 (Pen Men at Work): Quick and accurate medical tests along with split second decisions are part and parcel of every busy clinic or hospital. However, the doctors are now overly anxious about nothing going wrong and order for medical scans and tests which are totally unnecessary. A simple case of a scratch or a bump in the head might result in the patient being subjected to a series of tests, so anxious are the doctors of eliminating every possibility of a wrong diagnosis.

The president of the American College of Emergency Physicians agrees completely. According to her the doctors are running scared of being harassed by malpractice suits which in turn makes them resort to overtesting in the ERs.

The importance of time cannot be entirely overlooked either. The doctors often find that just ordering a few tests can help to save precious time instead of waiting for the patient to answer every query pertaining to the illness concerned.

Dr. Jeffrey Kline, a physician specializing in emergencies endorses the fact. He says that the doctors do like to move on to the next patient after requesting for a CT scan which has become easy and less time consuming as they only have to check the appropriate box.

The patients can be taxing too, most of them are of the opinion that the tests are essential to their wellbeing. They tend to believe technology more than a physical examination by the doctor.

However, the highest numbers of malpractice suits are filed against ER doctors. The Physicians Insurers Association of America substantiate the fact by providing the statistics which pertains to almost 3% of their clients being ER specialists.

The actual results may vary from region to region but the instances of overtesting in ERs continue to be high.