Modern Healthcare: Johns Hopkins study names health systems that provide the most ‘unnecessary’ care

By Lisa Gillespie

January 14, 2022

About 11% of the nation’s health systems are big-time over-utilizers of low-value services, according to a Johns Hopkins University study published in JAMA on Friday.

Health systems that employ fewer primary care physicians, have higher bed counts or are investor-owned are associated with more unneeded care, researchers at Johns Hopkins’ medical and public health schools found. Unnecessary procedures, tests and screenings are linked to lower quality of care and worse patient and worker safety, and drive up healthcare costs.

Among the top over-users were St. Dominic Health Services of Jackson, Mississippi, Irving, Texas-based USMD Health System, Community Medical Centers of Clovis, California, and Providence, Rhode Island-based Care New England Health System, according to the study.

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