Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33058700›Full record

ArticleAmerican journal of public health2020

Excess Medical Care Spending: The Categories, Magnitude, and Opportunity Costs of Wasteful Spending in the United States.

Matthew Speer, J Mac McCullough, Jonathan E Fielding, Elinore Faustino, Steven M Teutsch

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in American journal of public health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
16citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

16 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Interruptive Electronic Alerts for Choosing Wisely Recommendations: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association : JAMIA · 2022
    Trial
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Addressing the overuse-underuse paradox in healthcare.Medicine, health care, and philosophy · 2025
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. 2020 inAmerican journal of public health · 2021
    Article
  13. Teutsch et al. Respond.American journal of public health · 2021
    Article
  14. Health Care Waste and Climate Change.American journal of public health · 2021
    Article
  15. Excess Medical Spending From the Minnesota Perspective.American journal of public health · 2021
    Article
  16. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Matthew SpeerMatthew Speer and J. Mac McCullough are with the College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, Phoenix. Jonathan E. Fielding, Elinore Faustino, and Steven M. Teutsch are with the Center for Health Advancement, University of California, Los Angeles Fielding School of Public Health.
J Mac McCulloughMatthew Speer and J. Mac McCullough are with the College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, Phoenix. Jonathan E. Fielding, Elinore Faustino, and Steven M. Teutsch are with the Center for Health Advancement, University of California, Los Angeles Fielding School of Public Health.
Jonathan E FieldingMatthew Speer and J. Mac McCullough are with the College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, Phoenix. Jonathan E. Fielding, Elinore Faustino, and Steven M. Teutsch are with the Center for Health Advancement, University of California, Los Angeles Fielding School of Public Health.
Elinore FaustinoMatthew Speer and J. Mac McCullough are with the College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, Phoenix. Jonathan E. Fielding, Elinore Faustino, and Steven M. Teutsch are with the Center for Health Advancement, University of California, Los Angeles Fielding School of Public Health.
Steven M TeutschMatthew Speer and J. Mac McCullough are with the College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, Phoenix. Jonathan E. Fielding, Elinore Faustino, and Steven M. Teutsch are with the Center for Health Advancement, University of California, Los Angeles Fielding School of Public Health.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Landmark reports from reputable sources have concluded that the United States wastes hundreds of billions of dollars every year on medical care that does not improve health outcomes. While there is widespread agreement over how wasteful medical care spending is defined, there is no consensus on its magnitude or categories. A shared understanding of the magnitude and components of the issue may aid in systematically reducing wasteful spending and creating opportunities for these funds to improve public health.To this end, we performed a review and crosswalk analysis of the literature to retrieve comprehensive estimates of wasteful medical care spending. We abstracted each source's definitions, categories of waste, and associated dollar amounts. We synthesized and reclassified waste into 6 categories: clinical inefficiencies, missed prevention opportunities, overuse, administrative waste, excessive prices, and fraud and abuse.Aggregate estimates of waste varied from $600 billion to more than $1.9 trillion per year, or roughly $1800 to $5700 per person per year. Wider recognition by public health stakeholders of the human and economic costs of medical waste has the potential to catalyze health system transformation.

Indexed as

Efficiency, OrganizationalFraudHealth Care CostsHealth ExpendituresHumansMedical OverusePrimary PreventionUnited States

Identifiers

PMID33058700
PMCPMC7661971

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.