Health communication theory application paper Essay

Health communication theory application paper - Essay Example As suggested by estimates, billions of dollars are wasted due to the unnecessary medical procedures every year. Nine major groups of physicians have identified 45 medical procedures and tests that are recommended by doctors regularly but they have been proved to have no benefit for the majority of the patients, and at times such medical procedures can also prove to be detrimental for the medical condition of the patients. The article refers to an article by Dr. Howard Brody that sheds light upon the ethical issues in health care. Such articles help bring awareness among the patients which is one of the aspects of the article titled ‘Technology as the Representative Anecdote in Popular Discourse of Health and Medicine’ by Lynn M. Harter and Phyllis M. Japp. Technology, specifically mass media, plays an important role in making the patients aware regarding the medical procedures. According to Dr. Brody, one of the reasons behind the rising health care costs is that medical groups are not actively trying to bring the health care costs down and they are more concerned about keeping the incomes of the doctors too high. The article further suggests that medical groups should develop lists of medical procedures and treatments that have not proven to be beneficial in the process of diagnosis. The elimination of such tests and treatments will help in cutting down the health care costs without causing any deprivation of the medical benefits to the patient. Some of the specialty groups that were included in the list of the groups that used unnecessary medical procedures were; oncology, cardiology, radiology and primary care. Some of the tests and treatments that were proposed to be eliminated were; brain imaging scans after fainting, antibiotics for uncomplicated sinus infections, cardiac stress tests for annual checkups in patients who do not show any symptoms regar ding any cardiac problem, bone scans for early breast and prostate cancer patients who have low