Medical testing has been used by the insurance industry for more than half a century to screen applicants for medical problems and to further evaluate those with known medical illness. The a priori assumption of course is that all such testing is accurate, cost effective, and of benefit to all parties concerned.
In recent developments, medical professionals have been taking a closer look at certain types of testing used both to screen for and manage various types of medical problems. This closer look was prompted by studies over the past several years that indicated that testing in some circumstances not only failed to achieve its goal but could in fact be misleading and in some instances downright harmful.
In response to these developments, professional medical societies are carefully reviewing risk versus benefit for various types of testing used for screening, diagnosis and management and are making their recommendations available not only to the professional but to the consumer. To date, more than nine professional organizations including The American Academy of Family Physicians, The American College of Physicians, The American College of Cardiology and the American College of Radiology as well as others have published suggested changes or guidelines on a website: www.choosingwisely.org freely available to all.
How will these changes affect the insurance industry or you as an insurance professional? It is probably too early to tell whether the changes will amount to a corrective shuffle or a paradigm shift. Many of the suggested changes to date are likely to have little or no impact while others may affect either directly or indirectly the way applications are handled, particularly in the area of some of the screening tests commonly used as part of age/amount requirements.
It will take a while for the insurance carriers and their medical directors to mull things over and time to put the new information into perspective. Stay tuned – we will keep you informed.