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Overtesting and the Downstream Consequences of Overtreatment: Implications of “Preventing Overdiagnosis” for Emergency Medicine
Author(s) -
Carpenter Christopher R.,
Raja Ali S.,
Brown Michael D.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
academic emergency medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.221
H-Index - 124
eISSN - 1553-2712
pISSN - 1069-6563
DOI - 10.1111/acem.12820
Subject(s) - overdiagnosis , medicine , medical diagnosis , relevance (law) , intensive care medicine , medical emergency , law , pathology , political science
Overtesting, the downstream consequences of overdiagnosis, and overtreatment of some patients are topics of growing debate within emergency medicine ( EM ). The “Preventing Overdiagnosis” conference, hosted by The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, with sponsorship from consumer organizations, medical journals, and academic institutions, is evidence of an expanding interest in this topic. However, EM represents a compellingly unique environment, with increased decision density tied to high stakes for patients and providers with missed or delayed diagnoses in a professional atmosphere that does not tolerate mistakes. This article reviews the relevance of this reductionist paradigm to EM , provides a first‐hand synopsis of the first “Preventing Overdiagnosis” conference, and assesses barriers to moving the concept of less test ordering to reality.