Why do doctors order so many tests ?

One of the things doctors do most commonly is order tests. The uncharitable explanation for why they do so many tests is for financial reasons. It’s an open secret that the diagnostic laboratories and scan centers often give doctors a kickback (commission ) on each test, which means that it makes financial sense for them to do lots of tests . However, there are lots of ethical doctors who do not get kickbacks , and yet they order lots of tests. Why is this so ?One of the reasons is a very common psychological fallacy most of us are fooled by. We often believe that the more the data we have , the more accurate will be our diagnosis . Doctor confuse more information with more accuracy.Actually, this seems to make a logical sense . After all, isn’t it common sense that more information should give lead to more accuracy ? This is why when doctors encounter patients with a complex problem, they order more tests to get more information. They hope that the test results will give them more insight into the right diagnosis.However, psychologists have shown that more information does not always improve accuracy . In reality, more data has the pernicious side effect of increasing the confidence levels of the doctor in his diagnosis. This is not a problem which is unique to doctors - it actually applies to experts in all fields , including financial advisors. Because lots of doctors are not aware of this common cognitive bias , they over-order tests when they are stumped, in order to...
Source: The Patient's Doctor - Category: Obstetricians and Gynecologists Source Type: blogs