The Lown Institute of Needham has long argued that hospitals perform way too many procedures it has identified as being low-value, meaning they offer little to no clinical benefit to patients and, in many cases, are more likely to harm them than help them. More
What could be a fruitful conversation on racial equity is being co-opted by pharmaceutical companies to sell unproven drugs. More
From approval to withdrawal, the story of Makena shows some of the major pitfalls of the FDA's drug approval process. More
Two recent studies show the high cost patients face from unnecessary imaging and follow up events. More
In January 2020, Lown Institute released “Eliminating Medication Overload: A National Action Plan.” The National Action Plan provides recommendations for policymakers, foundations, healthcare institutions, clinicians and patients across five key categories. More
How can mortality be reduced by colonoscopies but not by a colonoscopy screening program? We break down the results from the groundbreaking NordICC trial. More
'Medication Overload: America’s Other Drug Problem', a report released in 2019 by the Lown Institute, chronicles the epidemic of polypharmacy in the United States. More
Even in 2020, when many hospitals were refusing non-urgent surgeries, more than 100,000 unnecessary, and potentially harmful procedures were performed on older patients in the USA, according to anaylsis from health think-tank the Lown Institute.
"You couldn't go into your local coffee shop, but hospitals brought people in for all kinds of unnecessary procedures,"
Do alternative payment plans like Medicare Advantage actually lead to less low-value care? A recent study in JAMA Health Forum has some encouraging results. More
“It’s very easy for doctors and patients to go down the path of doing a medical procedure because it seems like, in theory, it would be safer and better, but that’s not always the case,” says Vikas Saini, MD, a cardiologist and president of the institute. “More medical care isn’t necessarily always better, especially for older adults.” More
Overuse is prevalent in hospitals across the country -- but what about VA hospitals, where providers are paid a salary rather than fee-for-service? More
Congress is considering having Medicare fund blood screening tests, also known as liquid biopsies. Could this lead to cascade events and medical overuse? More
Of the 3,600 hospitals included in this year’s assessment, 66 ranked among the most socially responsible, meaning they earned an “A” rating in at least three of the measurement categories, the Lown Institute said. That represents fewer than 2 percent of participating hospitals, indicating serious room for growth in terms of health equity. More
According to a 2020 report by the Lown Institute, a health-systems think tank that tracks prescription trends, 42% of older Americans routinely take five or more prescription drugs a day and close to 20% take 10 or more. More
What's needed to tackle the problem? The Lown Institute's action plan offers recommendations in five key areas. More
After getting spinal fusion surgery, Lisa French was charged $300,000 after the hospital had quoted her $1,300 for the surgery. When she was unable to pay, the nonprofit hospital sued. As the spinal fusion industry booms, this case shows another risk of unnecessary surgeries -- getting overcharged and potentially sued by hospitals. More
Texas ranked 47th of 50 states in avoiding unnecessary procedures, according to a report by the Lown Institute, a Massachusetts think tank, which found that hospitals across the country performed about 100,000 unnecessary surgeries in 2020. Unnecessary procedures cost the health care system as much as $101 billion a year in wasted spending, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association. More
Should we recommend earlier prostate cancer screening for Black men, who have a higher risk of prostate cancer mortality? We examine the pros and cons of this question raised by a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine. More
A telehealth company's downfall sheds light on the overprescription of stimulants to ADHD patients More
Last year, the Lown Institute, a nonprofit healthcare think tank based in Needham, Massachusetts, reported that hospitals performed more than 1 million unnecessary tests and procedures on Medicare patients from 2016 to 2018. Unnecessary tests and procedures can put patients at risk of complications and drive up the cost of care. More