TY - JOUR
T1 - Systematic Overuse of Healthcare Services
T2 - A Conceptual Model
AU - Nassery, Najlla
AU - Segal, Jodi B.
AU - Chang, Eva
AU - Bridges, John F.P.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2014, Springer International Publishing Switzerland.
PY - 2015/2
Y1 - 2015/2
N2 - A perfect storm of factors influences the overuse of healthcare services in the USA. Considerable attention has been placed on geographic variation in utilization; however, empiric data has shown that geographic variation in utilization is not associated with overuse. While there has been renewed interest in overuse in recent years, much of the focus has been on the overuse of individual procedures. In this paper we argue that overuse should be thought of as a widespread and pervasive phenomenon that we coin as systematic overuse. While not directly observable (i.e., a latent phenomenon), we suggest that systematic overuse could be identified by tracking a portfolio of overused procedures. Such a portfolio would reflect systematic overuse if it is associated with higher healthcare costs and no health benefit (including worse health outcomes) across a healthcare system. In this report we define and conceptualize systematic overuse and illustrate how it can be identified and validated via a simple empirical example using several Choosing Wisely indicators. The concept of systematic overuse requires further development and empirical verification, and this paper provides an important first step, a conceptual framework, to that end.
AB - A perfect storm of factors influences the overuse of healthcare services in the USA. Considerable attention has been placed on geographic variation in utilization; however, empiric data has shown that geographic variation in utilization is not associated with overuse. While there has been renewed interest in overuse in recent years, much of the focus has been on the overuse of individual procedures. In this paper we argue that overuse should be thought of as a widespread and pervasive phenomenon that we coin as systematic overuse. While not directly observable (i.e., a latent phenomenon), we suggest that systematic overuse could be identified by tracking a portfolio of overused procedures. Such a portfolio would reflect systematic overuse if it is associated with higher healthcare costs and no health benefit (including worse health outcomes) across a healthcare system. In this report we define and conceptualize systematic overuse and illustrate how it can be identified and validated via a simple empirical example using several Choosing Wisely indicators. The concept of systematic overuse requires further development and empirical verification, and this paper provides an important first step, a conceptual framework, to that end.
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U2 - 10.1007/s40258-014-0126-5
DO - 10.1007/s40258-014-0126-5
M3 - Editorial
C2 - 25193241
AN - SCOPUS:84940901250
SN - 1175-5652
VL - 13
JO - Applied health economics and health policy
JF - Applied health economics and health policy
IS - 1
ER -