The U.S. healthcare system wastes between $600 billion and $850 billion annually, according to an analysis published by Thomson Reuters. The report identifies the most significant drivers of wasteful spending based on a review of published research and analyses of proprietary healthcare data.
Unnecessary care represents an estimated 40 percent of healthcare waste, according to the report. This category, which includes unwarranted treatment such as the over-use of antibiotics and the use of diagnostic lab tests to protect against malpractice exposure, accounts for $250 billion to $325 billion in annual healthcare spending.
Other drivers of wasteful spending that are quantified in the report include fraud (19 percent), administrative inefficiency (17 percent), medical errors (12 percent), preventable conditions (6 percent), and lack of care coordination (6 percent).
