Avoidable Care Costs: Medical Waste Adds to Health Care Burden

Worcester Telegram & Gazette
October 23, 2008

If the Patrick administration hopes to close the revenue gap and restrain budget growth in years to come, reining in the cost of health care entitlements, programs and benefits needs to be a priority. Now, useful perspective on the issue is coming from within the health sector itself.

One industry executive who has stepped up with suggestions is James Roosevelt Jr., chief executive of Tufts Health Plan. In a commentary in the Boston Globe this week, he cited research indicating that $760 billion of health care spending nationwide each year is waste — “more than the $700 billion bailout of the U. S. banking system and a full third of the $2.3 trillion in annual health care spending.” Such things as medical mistakes, hospital-acquired infections, overuse of emergency departments and unnecessary tests, he added, account for much of the waste.

...Indeed, the New England Healthcare Institute research concluded the savings could come without reducing the quality of care....

Link to Full Article: http://www.telegram.com/article/20081023/NEWS/810230423