Italian Clampdown on Unnecessary Clinical Tests. Doctors Protest
Italian Clampdown on Unnecessary Clinical Tests. Doctors Protest
Checks to be introduced on 208 medical tests and treatments, often prescribed unnecessarily.
There are 208 medical tests and treatments in the list submitted by Health Minister Beatrice Lorenzin to doctors’ unions. From dental work and MRI scans to gene tests and treatment for high cholesterol, if prescriptions fail to comply with criteria laid down by the planned legislation, local health authorities may step in and fine any doctors unable to justify their decisions. The draft of the measure is about to be sent to the Interregional Council.
Clampdown on waste
The move is part of a wider clampdown on waste. Examinations and clinical tests that do not reflect patients’ real needs represent a huge cost for the health service. The phenomenon is above all linked to so-called defensive medicine, in other words the tendency of doctors to try and protect themselves from legal action by over-prescribing. What is however unclear is how regional councils will monitor compliance with the list and what penalties will be applied in the case of infringements.
Doctors unconvinced
Healthcare unions are concerned, and have threatened industrial action. The “inappropriate” prescriptions also include some for widespread medical conditions, such as high cholesterol. Drugs may be prescribed, for example, only after the age of 40 as a preventive measure, and once cholesterol levels have returned to normal, no sooner than five years after the first cycle, unless there is a family history of the condition and associated risks such as high blood pressure, obesity or other factors. Doctors’ unions, from the FP-CGIL to FIMMG, the federation of GPs, have complained. “We have expressed our perplexity and disagreement,” explained the secretary of the FP-CGIL doctors’ union, “above all regarding the intention to fine doctors. This is a system that risks damaging the doctor-patient relationship”.
Source: Corriera Della Sera
Picture: The Times
