That amounts to a lot of unnecessary testing.
Listening to the patient might obviate the need for unnecessary testing and, more important, help the patient.
This is contrary to a health maintenance organization's mission of decreasing unnecessary testing.
Most physicians do not appropriately take such differences in prevalence into account when interpreting test results, which may cause unnecessary testing and diagnostic errors.
These methods reverse the traditional economics of health care, which encourage overtreatment and unnecessary testing.
Failure to recognize this behavior can lead to unnecessary and invasive testing.
One concern, he said, is that hoaxes will clog up laboratories with unnecessary testing.
At the same time, unnecessary testing should be avoided.
That should prevent a load of red tape and unnecessary testing.
A false-positive result can cause stress and lead to unnecessary testing (such as an amniocentesis).