Do you really need that test?

There's a movement starting to reduce medical expenses by eliminating tests and procedures that the patient does not need. This amounts to a lot of money; $282,000,000 in one year in at least one case. The Washington Health Alliance found that in a single year more than 600,000 patients underwent treatment they didn’t need.

The group looked at the insurance claims for one year from 1.3 million patients in Washington state who received one of 47 tests or services that medical experts have flagged as overused or unnecessary. Here's what they found: 

More than a third of the money spent on the 47 tests or services went to unnecessary care.
Three of four annual cervical cancer screenings were performed on women who had adequate prior screenings — at a cost of $19 million.
About 85 percent of the lab tests to prep healthy patients for low-risk surgery were unnecessary — squandering about $86 million.
Needless annual heart tests on low-risk patients consumed $40 million.

The National Academy of Medicine believes that  about a fourth ($765 billion) of all the money spent each year on health care is wasted.