Explain why most people don't believe this FACT...nearly $1 trillion a year is wasted in

[healthmyths]

health care cost!

In December 2009, Jackson Healthcare invited 138,686 physicians to participate in a confidential online survey in an effort to quantify the costs and impact of defensive medicine. Over 3,000 physicians spanning all states and medical specialties completed the survey, a 2.21 percent response rate. The survey error range is at the 95% confidence level: +/-1.15 percent.

The following definition was cited in the survey:
“Defensive medicine is the practice of diagnostic or therapeutic measures conducted primarily not to ensure the health of the patient, but as a safeguard against possible malpractice liability.
Fear of litigation has been cited as the driving force behind defensive medicine.
Defensive medicine is especially common in the United States of America,
with rates as high as 79% to 93%, particularly in emergency medicine, obstetrics, and other high-risk specialties.

PHYSICIAN STUDY: QUANTIFYING THE COST OF DEFENSIVE MEDICINE - Jackson Healthcare

Of the physicians surveyed, 73 percent agreed that they had practiced some form of defensive medicine in the past 12 months. If physician estimates are accurate, according to Gallup and Jackson surveys, between $650 billion and $850 billion are being spent each year due to defensive, or lawsuit-driven, medicine.
Key Findings from Gallup Survey

• Physicians attribute 26 percent of overall healthcare costs to the practice of defensive medicine
• Of the physicians surveyed, 73 percent agreed that they had practiced some form of defensive medicine in the past 12 months
• Physicians indicating they had practiced a form of defensive medicine in the last twelve months attribute 21 percent of their practice to be defensive in nature

YET many of you won't believe what these 3,000 physicians have said..that they estimate from $650 to $850 billion a year is wasted.
Why don't you want to believe the people that KNOW better than you?