Opinion: Constrain Use of ‘Clinical Wizardry’ Care Tools
M. Gregg Bloche -- a physician and a professor of law at Georgetown University -- writes in a Los Angeles Times opinion piece that "the main driver behind rising [health care]Â costs is indiscriminate adoption of new technology," adding, "We must make it much harder for high-cost clinical wizardry to become part of our expectations" in health care. "We can do this by demanding proof that pricey services add value before permitting health care providers to tap insurers for payment," and "[w]e should also stop paying providers more for using technology than for listening and talking to their patients," he adds. Bloche concludes that "clarity must replace the vague terms (like 'medical necessity') that insurers use to veil health care rationing. Clear limits, applicable to all, can help us come to terms with the need to say 'no' without shattering our trust in medicine."
- "The Case for Rationing Health Care" (Bloche, Los Angeles Times, 4/18).