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Doctors Report a Slowdown in Medical Spending

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By Paul Carton
September 23, 2008

The tentacles of the economic slowdown are spreading.

According to ChangeWave's latest healthcare survey, the medical industry is now seeing a deceleration in patient spending. The survey of 260 doctors, conducted August 21-26, 2008, shows patients are succumbing to tougher times and cutting corners in terms of health spending.

But just how frugal are patients becoming? To get a better understanding, we asked doctors if they've noticed any change in the frequency of patient visits over the past year. Better than one-in-five (22%) said their patients have been visiting "Less Frequently," compared to just 18% who said "More Frequently."

We next asked doctors a series of true-false questions about their practice/clinical environment. The following chart summarizes some of the key changes doctors are seeing in patient attitudes and behavior.

Not only do three-in-four doctors (73%) say patients are more concerned with medical costs than they were a year ago, but 38% report their patients are actually breaking pills or taking lower doses of medication to prolong the life of their prescriptions.

Another 34% of doctors say they've noticed a greater number of patients refusing recommended tests or procedures because of cost, and one-in-four (24%) report the number of patients who actually fill their prescriptions has been decreasing.

Elective Cosmetic Procedures Slow, Mental Health Referrals Jump

Nowhere is the slowdown in patient spending more evident than when it comes to elective procedures.

Nearly a third of doctors (30%) report a decrease over the past 12 months in patient requests for elective procedures, compared to just 10% who report an increase.

Importantly, when we asked which types of cosmetic procedures had seen the biggest change in demand, it was Cosmetic Surgery that registered the biggest slowdown. Better than one-in-five doctors (21%) report a decrease in patient demand for cosmetic surgery - only 7% an increase.

On the other hand, the downturn in the economy has caused other types of medical needs to jump. For example, a surprisingly high 18% of doctors said they'd seen an increase in mental health services referrals over the past 12 months, compared to just 1% who saw a decrease.

Final Diagnosis

The healthcare industry is clearly seeing a slowdown in patient spending, according to our latest healthcare survey findings.

The cosmetic surgery sector has been hit disproportionately hard this year. And although less invasive procedures like hair removal and the use of collagen and other dermal fillers haven't experienced a slowdown, there hasn't been any growth in these areas either.

Not surprisingly, nearly two-in-five doctors (39%) say the current economic slump is having a negative impact on their practice.

As Doctor TDA3174 puts it, his practice now has to "see more patients and stay open longer hours to compensate." Others say they are trimming back staff and making additional cost-cutting moves.

Based on these survey results, it's going to take a healthy dose of economic growth to revitalize patient healthcare spending. But don't expect a quick turnaround anytime soon. According to our latest macroeconomic survey findings, there are no major catalysts on the near-term horizon.

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Jim Woods co-wrote this article

Thursday, August 20, 2009

For recently depressed individuals loss of enjoyment is linked to very specific parts of the brain

Newswise — Clinically depressed individuals are less capable of finding pleasure in activities they previously enjoyed, a recent study has proven. Research featured in the August 26 issue of the NeuroReport shows reduced brain function in the reward center of the brain in depressed individuals, when compared to healthy subjects. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading provider of information and business intelligence for students, professionals, and institutions in medicine, nursing, allied health, and pharmacy.

The study was conducted by Dr. Elizabeth Osuch, a researcher at the Lawson Health Research Institute, and is the first scientific publication of data obtained by the newly developed First Episode Mood & Anxiety Program (FEMAP) research arm at the London Health Sciences Centre in Ontario, Canada.

To investigate the effects of depression on brain activity, Dr. Osuch and her team asked 15 healthy subjects and 16 recently depressed subjects to provide a list of their favourite music as well as identify music that they neither liked nor disliked (neutral music). The subjects then listened to their musical selections for three minutes while a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner measured the neural activity in their brain.

The researchers found that the healthy subjects showed more brain activity in specific regions when they listed to their favourite music compared to the depressed subjects. More specifically, several regions of the brain that are associated with reward processing were shown to be less activated in the depressed individuals, suggesting that even the most basic capacity of enjoyment seems to be malfunctioning in this area of the brain in those who have depression. This was true in spite of no difference in how enjoyable the two groups rated listening to the music in the scanner.

"Our results revealed significant responses within the areas of the brain that are associated with reward processing in healthy individuals. They also showed significant deficits in these neurophysiological responses in recently depressed subjects compared to the healthy subjects," explains Dr. Osuch. "It is known that depressed individuals experience anhedonia"”a loss of enjoyment in previously pleasurable activities. The study results show that for recently depressed individuals this loss of enjoyment is linked to very specific parts of the brain which are involved with experiencing pleasure. If we can target these areas of the brain through treatment, we have the potential to treat depression earlier, right at the source."

Patients Getting Frugal

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Thursday, August 20, 2009

For recently depressed individuals loss of enjoyment is linked to very specific parts of the brain