IOM: Physicians Play Key Role in Stopping Health System Waste

To cut down on what it says is a massive amount of waste and inefficiency in health care, an Institute of Medicine report is recommending that physicians and other health professionals become part of a “learning” system that uses new clinical support tools and payment models linking performance to patient outcomes, as well as a team approach to care management.

A panel convened by the institute to look at the challenges facing the U.S. health system found that unnecessary services, fraud and excessive administrative costs accounted for about 30%, or $750 billion, of total health spending in 2009. Wasted resources have human consequences, according to the report, “Best Care at Lower Cost: The Path to Continuously Learning Health Care in America.” According to one outside estimate, 75,000 deaths may have been prevented in 2005 if the quality of care in all of the states had risen to the level of care of the highest-performing state in the nation.

Read the full story: http://bit.ly/SNCuz6

Source: amednews.com