The Lown Institute released new data on unnecessary back surgeries in Medicare, identifying 200,000 low-value procedures and $2 billion in Medicare dollars wasted over three years. Back surgery overuse varies widely among states, hospitals, and even doctors in the same hospital. We brought together Dr. Sohail Mirza, orthopedic surgeon and professor at Dartmouth College, and […] More
Every eight minutes an unnecessary back surgery is performed, costing Medicare $2 billion over the three years studied. More
Which Medicare Advantage plans do a good job at avoiding overuse for their beneficiaries... and which don't? More
A new rule from the US Food and Drug Administration just went into effect last month, requiring that mammography providers notify patients about their breast density along with their mammogram results. How does this affect patients? More
Register now for the webinar "Unnecessary Back Surgery: Older Americans put at risk while Billions in Medicare funds wasted" on November 14, 2024. More
A new study estimates that the five most common cancer screenings cost $43 billion in 2021. How exactly was this money spent and where might it have gone instead? More
Five years after the Lown Institute’s report on medication overload was published, this issue continues to be relevant in American health care. What are the harms of medication overload, how can you avoid it, and what policy changes do we need? More
Every day, 750 older Americans end up in the hospital because of serious side effects from one or more medications, according to the Lown Institute, a health care think tank. And the chance you will experience a serious side effect from a prescribed medication goes up around 10% with each additional medication you take. More
Are higher-income patients at higher risk for overuse? A recent study in Health Affairs considers the relationship between patient income and value of care. More
A new law in Florida allows for doctors to perform c-sections outside of hospitals. How could this impact overuse and maternal health outcomes? More
Register now for the webinar "America's Most Socially Responsible Hospitals" on June 25, 2024. More
The USPSTF just finalized their recommendation to lower the screening age for breast cancer from 50 to 40. What are the potential harms and benefits? More
Communities invest in their local nonprofit hospitals through big tax breaks. Are hospitals giving back their fair share in return? To find out, the Lown Institute analyzed hospital community investments compared to the value of their tax breaks—what we call “Fair Share Spending.” More
How can we combat cognitive biases and reduce overuse? Recent studies provide insights for "nudging" doctors away from low-value care. More
This new measure of radiation quality sheds light on an important potential harm of imaging overuse. Here’s what it means for the future of provider accountability and patient safety. More
Are Black patients at higher or lower risk of overuse? A new study reveals how patterns of low-value differ by race in the Medicare population. More
Texas is home to three of the ten U.S. hospitals that overuse stents the most, according to new research from The Lown Institute. The costly procedure is unnecessarily performed every seven minutes, and UT Southwestern’s Clements University Hospital is among the facilities that overuse stents the most. More
A new report from the Lown Institute finds that hospitals' unnecessary coronary stent use costs Medicare $800 million a year. More
Stents are small mesh tubes inserted into weak or narrow arteries and other passageways to keep them open in patients with coronary artery disease, widen arteries clogged with plaque, and keep blood flowing. The new report estimated that one in five stents implanted between 2019 and 2021 were unnecessary because the patient was not at high risk for a heart attack, the Lown Institute, an independent research firm, found.