User:Bluerasberry/Unnecessary medical testing

Unnecessary medical testing or overtesting is medical testing which is performed without a legitimate reason to do the test, such as a medical indication.

Some patients feel safer when their doctors perform more tests on them, because they assume that if they have health problems then the doctors will detect them. However, all medical tests have associated risks. Unnecessary medical testing brings the risk of a test showing a false positive result in a healthy person who would then go on to receive more tests and treatment under the mistaken assumption that the person needs it. Also unnecessary testing leads to health care providers charging patients for procedures which they do not need.

Bad science
Sometimes it has happened that autopsies have revealed that doctors were very wrong about their patients' health, perhaps because the doctors began their practice assuming that the science on which it was based was correct when in fact it was not.

It can happen that there are problems in differential diagnosis. A study may give guidelines for a large group of people, when despite the science the guidelines may only some members of that large group. This might be typical of new science - first it gives a broad guideline then over time the recommendation is refined.

Unwarranted variation
Regional variations of standards of care

Good intentions with harmful results
Sometimes physicians have no reason to regret recommending a medical test even when it is not indicated.

Diagnostic errors
For various reasons in any health care system there will be a certain number of diagnostic errors.

Medical malpractice
Sometimes health care providers recommend medical testing for no reason and have no excuses and perhaps the cause is medical malpractice.

stuff
Researchers have expressed difficulty in identifying reasons why physicians order medical testing which is not indicated.

The intuition of individual doctors is an inherent part of medical practice.

Causes of uncertainty about when to conduct a test include inherent limitations of medical guidelines, uncertainty in data obtained even using the scientific method, the probabilistic nature of health care, the limitations of any health provider to give consistently perfect treatment, and perpetuation of traditional practices even when better new practices are developed.

Some physicians do testing beyond what it is indicated in an attempt to achieve greater diagnostic certainty.