It might make them feel better to have them, in a manner of speaking, but health care consumers are sinking $25 billion a year on low-value procedures that are often not even needed.

According to HRDive reporting on a study from the Task Force on Low-Value Care, a multistakeholder group established by VBID Health, the five most commonly overused low-value medical procedures are:

Diagnostic imaging and testing for low-risk patients before they undergo low-risk surgery
Vitamin D screening
Screening of men 75 and older for prostate-specific antigen
Imaging for acute lower-back pain the first six weeks after symptoms appeared without clinical warning signs
Using expensive brand-name drugs when generics with the same active ingredients are available

The report points out that while most consumers are dependent on health care professionals, not their own knowledge, to determine which services and procedures they should have, they don’t know when a procedure won’t provide them with sufficient useful information to justify its cost. It adds that while benefits education alone probably won’t solve this particular problem, “employers can help employees become advocates for their own health through value-comparison tools and services.”

Amid continually increasing health care costs, it says, all stakeholders, including not just employees and their employers, but also insurers and service providers, “must consider ways to slow steep cost increases.” In particular, the soaring costs of prescription drugs and specialty pharmaceuticals stand out as the largest cost driver, but chronic conditions also weigh on the bottom line. Everything from sleep disorders to Type 2 diabetes comes with cost—and employers need to consider wellness initiatives “[t]o protect employees at risk of acquiring chronic illnesses….”

The task force, made up of “leading purchasers, patient advocates, employer coalitions and other health care stakeholders,” according to VBID Health, put together the “top five” list “after carefully considering the potential for harm, cost, prevalence, and the availability of levers for purchasers to help reduce their delivery.”

Instant Insights /

5 low-value health care procedures account for $25B in consumer spending

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