Do doctors order too many tests?

I work as a Physician Assistant in an Urgent Care facility and also in Orthopaedic surgery - I think there is a fine line between ordering enough versus "too many" tests. At this day in age, healthcare is so consumerized, I often feel that patients try to dictate what tests I do/do not order. I had one patient that insisted I send a regular throat culture despite the rapid strep being negative and my insistence that clinically his exam did not indicate a bacterial strep throat infection, rather looked viral. I informed him that I thought it would be a waste of his and his insurance companies money, but he insisted and I sent the culture, and as expected it was negative. This was a fairly small and inexpensive test, but patients like this make keeping healthcare costs down difficult because you want the patient to be satisfied that they are being treated appropriately.

The reason doctors order many test is that some people who believe that everything comes with a guarantee will call a lawyer if they encounter a bad outcome. If the lawyers were out of medicine the over testing would end in a heart beat. And health care would cost much less.

My husband was sent home from the hospital with the doctor assistant saying she thought it was "anxiety" and couldn't argue with her but since I knew my husband never had anxiety a day in his life (he takes everything so calm until it is some times aggravating lol just kidding). So that same day I took him to ER and talked to the ER doctor that did a scan that showed my husband had a VERY LARGE brain tumor and wouldn't even let me drive him to the nearest hospital that does brain surgery as they took him by ambulance. He had to have plates in his head and in my opinion would not be alive if they had not found it when they did! It is better to be safe than sorry and doctors should keep their opinions to their self until they have test results to back them up!

Hardly a waste of money in most cases, but I would like to see less referrals to testing sites that in turn are owned by the very same doctor who sends you there.

they do it to cover themselves... no test, and a disease or condition crops up...THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE!!!

Because we don't pay the bill ( insurance does ) we don't raise Hell about the extra costs for unnessary tests. It's a cash cow for the medical industry.

Some doctors do but usually the residents who are afraid of missing something. I've seen all kinds of stupid lab tests ordered by new residents.

Not enough in this country!