This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Peter Alagona, Jr, MD
Tampa, Fla

JAMA. 1993;269(13):1633.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.

—The article entitled "Physicians' Utilization and Charges for Outpatient Diagnostic Imaging in a Medicare Population" by Hillman et al¹ is another in a long line of comments and articles noting the increased use of diagnostic tests by physicians who have a so-called financial interest in the procedure. As is usually the case, the methods and statistical analyses always appear to have been exhaustively reviewed and the results are persuasive. Unfortunately, some very basic details of medical practice, patient-physician relationships, and medical expertise and competence are ignored.

As a cardiologist in practice for over 10 years who has commonly used noninvasive diagnostic procedures available to him in the office setting, I can relay some nonquantifiable, "unscientific" information with regard to why I would obviously perform more procedures in my office rather than referring them to centers mainly operated or controlled by our radiology colleagues. The first is . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Footnotes
Edited by Drummond Rennie, MD, Deputy Editor (West), and Margaret A. Winker, MD, Senior Editor.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?