Study: Unnecessary health spending fueled by low-cost, low-value services

Healthcare DIVE October 3, 2017
Les Masterson

Dive Brief:

• Low-cost, low-value, high-volume health services contribute the most to unnecessary healthcare spending, according to a new analysis published in Health Affairs.
• Researchers analyzed 2014 data from the Virginia All Payer Claims Database of 44 low-value health services and found more than $586 million in unnecessary costs.
• Low-cost, low-value services result in nearly twice as much money — combined — as high-cost services, according to the study.

Dive Insight:

Reducing low-value services is seen as a way to cut healthcare costs, but usually that discussion focuses on expensive procedures and tests. Researchers in this study found cutting low-cost services can add up in terms of savings and wouldn’t be as controversial within the industry as reducing high-cost...

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