Hospital should not host costly screenings

Editor, Index-Tribune:

In the latest edition of your newspaper I found a bright pink ad for tests to “Stay Stroke Free” from Life Line Mobile Screening. What is especially disappointing is that these exams are “presented by Sonoma Valley Hospital” for “only $149, a savings of $181!” The fine print mentions that none of these exams are covered by Medicare or insurance, but they do display the logos of a number of credit card companies that they would gladly charge.

What is not mentioned is that the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an independent panel charged with evaluating such care, recommends against the use of these tests in adults who have no symptoms or are not high risk. These tests have been shown to increase health care costs for patients while often leading to additional costly unnecessary testing that is potentially harmful. The authors of a recent article in an esteemed medical journal called hospital involvement with these programs without adequate disclosure of potential downsides “unethical.”

Sonoma Valley Hospital should immediately rethink its partnership with this private company offering these exams.

Andrew Fenton, MD

Sonoma

(Editor’s note: We checked with Sonoma Valley Hospital, which reported that those screening services were not initiated by Sonoma, but were a part of a partnership arrangement it had with Marin General Hospital. In July, after a closer examination of how they operated, SVH stopped hosting the programs.)