Medicare is spending about $500 million a year on genetic blood tests that offer little or no clinical benefit and may be unnecessary, according to a study in the Journal of Hospital Medicine.
The report, by a University of Michigan Medical School team, examines testing for a trait called inherited thrombophilia, and calls for a drastic cut in the test’s use by doctors.
The team said patients who have already had such dangerous clots, called venous thromboembolisms or VTEs, don’t need to register a positive genetic test to justify taking medication and making other changes to prevent future ones.
