You’re not going to believe the statistics regarding unnecessary surgeries taking place in the United States today. And get ready for this – the reason for so many of these unnecessary or inappropriate procedures – physician preference, according to researchers!

A recent USA TODAY report reviewed government records and medical databases and found unnecessary surgeries might account for 10% to 20% of all operations in some specialties. The most common specialties affected are cardiac and spinal procedures.

A 2011 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found 22.5% of patients who received a pacemaker-like device to correct heartbeat irregularities, did not need it.

Another 2011 study, in the journal Surgical Neurology International, revealed more than 17% of patients who had surgery for neck and back problems had no neurological or radiographic findings to indicate an operation was necessary.

Other surgical procedures performed more often than needed are knee replacements, hysterectomies, and cesarean sections, according to a review of in-depth studies and data generated by both government and academic sources.

Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance companies spend billions of dollars on unnecessary operations each year, draining health care dollars that could be put to better use.

That’s why medical experts are now urging patients faced with a surgical procedure to first obtain a second opinion. At SecondOpinions.com, patients receive second opinions in all areas of medicine. Because of our proprietary RADIOLOGY-ON-DEMAND® cloud technology, we are able to offer second opinions at an affordable price and deliver radiological reports within as quickly as an hour.

You simply upload your MRI, CT, X-Ray, Mammogram, Ultrasound or Nuclear Medicine study and U.S. board-certified, fellowship trained doctors and subspecialist experts, trained at top American institutions, study your images and provide you with their advanced second opinion.

No appointments are needed. Patients don’t have to wait days or weeks for a new consultation. Our subspecialist expert doctors are available 24/7/365 in all 50 states. The price ranges from $29.00 -$99.00 per report. Get the peace of mind you need and deserve from SecondOpinions.com.

There’s no denying exercise is good for you. But sometimes when you play sports or exercise you can get hurt. Professional athletes are always at risk.

Recently New Orleans outside linebacker Victor Butler tore his anterior cruciate ligament during practice. And another professional athlete Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper has been benched due to bursitis in his left knee.

Both of these pros decided to get second opinions on their diagnoses in order to choose the best approach to treatment. You don’t have to be a professional athlete to get a second opinion if you’re having pain from a sports injury.

SecondOpinions.com has U.S. board-certified, fellowship trained doctors and subspecialist experts on call to study your images and provide you with their advanced second opinion.  Patients don’t have to wait days or weeks for a consultation. Our physicians are available 24/7/365 in all 50 states.

The price ranges from $29.00 -$99.00 per report. You simply upload your MRI, CT, X-Ray, Mammogram, Ultra-sound or Nuclear Medicine study.  Our expert doctors interpret then deliver the results in the privacy of your home or office.

We also have specialists and sub specialists in every medical field available for consultations via telephone and video chat. Prices start at $49 per 5-minute consultation.

Don’t suffer through another workout in pain – obtain a proper diagnosis that can lead to the proper treatment plan of action. Check out SecondOpinions.com today!

Medical errors are an epidemic in the United States. But sadly Americans are not alone when it comes to the dangers that can arise when seeking medical attention.
According to ABC News program “The World Today,” increasing numbers of medical errors are happening in Australian hospitals. By some estimates, as many as 18,000 people die every year as a result of medical error, while 50,000 people suffer a permanent injury.

Australia has no systematic collection of error data, according to the ABC report. So the number of errors could be higher because there’s really no way to know for sure how many medical mistakes cause serious harm or death.
Australian healthcare advocate Lorraine Long says between 70 and 100 complaints come to her Medical Error Action Group each day. Half of these she says can reasonably be classified as medical error
Ten years ago Australia introduced the world’s first nationwide open disclosure policy. This was supposed to enable doctors and clinicians to communicate openly and honestly with patients when health care doesn’t go as planned.
Long admits open disclosure hasn’t delivered. Health professionals remain concerned about the legal ramifications of acknowledging adverse events or expressing regret.

We know from the studies and research conducted in the United States that getting a second opinion does help reduce medial errors. SecondOpinions.com provides second opinions in all areas of medicine because we feel that getting a proper radiologic diagnosis is the key.
From anywhere in the world, simply upload your MRI, CT, X-Ray, Mammogram, Ultrasound or Nuclear Medicine study and U.S. board-certified, fellowship trained doctors and subspecialist experts, study your images and provide you with their advanced second opinion.
No appointments are needed. Our physicians are available 24/7/365 in all 50 states. The price ranges from $29.00 -$99.00 per report.
In addition, specialist and sub-specialist physicians in virtually all medical fields provide second opinion consultations via telephone and video chat for as low as $49 per 5-minute consultation.
Why take a chance with your health? Get the peace of mind you need and deserve from SecondOpinions.com.

Can you imagine anyone today being able to communicate effectively without a cell phone or smart phone? No way, right? Most of us use our phones to check email, take pictures, look for addresses, answer just about any question on the planet and, oh yeah, make phone calls. According to a new Pew Research Internet Project study, more than half of smart phone users in the United States are using it for another important aspect of life – getting health advice. That number is up 17% from just two years ago. The Pew research also revealed that 9% of smart phone owners receive text updates and alerts about medical issues. One in 5 downloaded an app to stay up-to-date on medical information. Those apps are for specific needs like first aid and health insurance. But exercise, diet and weight apps are the most popular according to Pew. All of these examples show that Americans are concerned about health issues and want to be able to access important, reliable information in a quick and convenient way. That’s’ where SecondOpinions.com comes in. We have U.S. board-certified, fellowship trained doctors and subspecialist experts on call to study your images and provide you with their advanced second opinion. Patients don’t have to wait days or weeks for a consultation. Our physicians are available 24/7/365 in all 50 states. The price ranges from $29.00 -$99.00 per report. You simply upload your MRI, CT, X-Ray, Mammogram, Ultra-sound or Nuclear Medicine study. Our expert doctors interpret then deliver the results in the privacy of your home or office. No appointments are needed. Quick, affordable and reliable medical information – now that’s smart!

If you’ve been fortunate enough to keep a job over the past few years, you’re probably doing the work of two or three employees. Increased workload has become a common practice in the American workplace. With less staff and resources the “lucky” people who’ve kept their jobs have been forced to do more work.
It may be a fact of life in our society today, but there are jobs that are at a greater risk of being negatively impacted by increased workloads. For instance, would you want a radiologist who’s interpreting the results of potentially life threatening medical scans to be overworked? It’s not likely. But that’s exactly what’s happening today according to a recent editorial published in the Applied Radiology journal.
The role of radiologists has grown significantly for a number of reasons:
Growing number of patients
An aging and generally sicker population
Greater paranoia about malpractice claims
The reasons may seem less significant when you think about the problems that can occur when radiologists have increased workloads. The interpretation quality and accuracy of medical scan reading can be negatively impacted. But there is a solution – implementing second reads or second opinions on a routine basis.
SecondOpinions.com provides patients with a quick and easy way to have a medical scan interpreted by a board certified fellowship trained physician or sub-specialist expert.
Patients simply upload their images such as an MRI or CAT scan and our expert radiologists will read your images and provide their advanced second opinion. You can also speak with an expert physician in any specialty via telephone or video chat.
Our services cost from $29 to $99 per report. No appointments necessary. You can receive your second opinion report in the comfort of your own home or office. Quality, affordability and convenience – your health is our greatest concern at SecondOpinions.com.

The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, was created to lower health care costs so all Americans could afford quality medical attention. A key to this new federal healthcare reform is something called accountable care organization or ACOs. Policy makers believe these ACOs have the ability to revolutionize the nation’s healthcare.
The concept is similar to health maintenance organizations. HMOs receive a certain amount of money for each patient every year and the less money they spend on these patients, the more profits they make. With ACOs, if they spend less money on patients but patients have poor health outcomes and hospital readmissions, companies could be penalized. If patients remain healthy and cost Medicare less, ACO member providers like hospitals, doctors, home health agencies and others can share in the savings.
ACOs will also provide care coordinators that will follow up with patients and make sure they have received their prescriptions or scheduled appointments with their doctors. The idea is the care coordinator will help to cut down on hospital readmissions and additional costs by making sure patients are following their doctors’ orders. Quality assurance techniques such as second opinions will also be mandated under Obamacare.
At SecondOpinions.com we provide second opinions in all areas of medicine because we feel that getting a proper radiologic diagnosis is the key. Because of our proprietary RADIOLOGY-ON-DEMAND® cloud technology, we are able to offer second opinions at an affordable price and deliver radiological reports within as quickly as an hour.
You simply upload your MRI, CT, X-Ray, Mammogram, Ultrasound or Nuclear Medicine study and U.S. board-certified, fellowship trained doctors and subspecialist experts, trained at top American institutions, study your images and provide you with their advanced second opinion.
No appointments are needed. Patients don’t have to wait days or weeks for a new consultation. Our subspecialist expert doctors are available 24/7/365 in all 50 states. The price ranges from $29.00 -$99.00 per report. . Get the peace of mind you need and deserve from SecondOpinions.com.
Article link: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/04/08/3329532/cheaper-better-healthcare-yes.html#storylink=misearch

Cutting health care costs has become a major initiative for governments across the world. And that worldwide mission is driving providers to adopt telehealth as a long term cost saving measure.
A new report from InMedica, defines telehealth as remote patient monitoring (RPM) and predicts 1.8 million patients will be using this service worldwide by 2017. Currently the number of patients being monitored remotely is 308,000.
Another recent study by research firm Berg Insight had even higher projections for telemedicine worldwide. Berg forecasts some 9.4 million people will be monitored remotely by 2017.
Telehealth is a way of reducing hospital readmission penalties for healthcare providers as part of the Affordable Healthcare Act. Other governments including France, China and the United Kingdom are also adopting these monitoring systems to cut costs.
The InMedica report found that the majority of Americans monitored remotely were released from hospitals in 2012 with chronic conditions such as diabetes and various heart conditions. Regularly checking in on these patients at home, reminding them to take their medications or visit their doctor has proven to cut their healthcare costs.
SecondOpinions.com is right in step with this telehealth parade. We provide second opinions on medical imaging at an affordable price for people all over the world.
Patients simply upload their images such as an MRI or CAT scan and our board certified fellowship trained expert radiologists will read your images and provide their advanced second opinion. You can also speak with an expert physician in any specialty via telephone or video chat. What’s amazing is you can get your report back within as quickly as an hour.
Our services cost from $29 to $99 per report. No appointments necessary. You can receive your report second opinion in the comfort of your own home or office.
SecondOpinions.com is helping cut healthcare costs without cutting quality. Try it out for yourself and get the peace of mind you deserve!

She has been known to kick butt and fend off attackers as “Lara Croft” in her popular movie series. Now actress Angelina Jolie has revealed her real life attack against cancer.
Earlier this year, Jolie had a preventive double mastectomy and just recently shared the news with the world. Her partner, actor Brad Pitt called her and others dealing with cancer, “heroic.”
Jolie’s mother, actress and producer Marcheline Bertrand, died of ovarian cancer in 2007. After being tested, Jolie learned she carries a mutation of the BRCA1 gene.
BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are known as tumor suppressors. Women who carry these genes have a significant risk of developing breast cancer and ovarian cancer.
Jolie decided to take preventive measures and remove both breasts in order to decrease her risks of developing cancer. She said this move was right for her and her family and wanted to let the world know in an effort to help other women going through the same difficult decision.
Jolie is being praised for her decision to speak out which serves as a reminder for women to know their family history and to have a simple blood test to determine if they are at risk.
Experts are recommending once you have a diagnosis to make sure you get a second opinion. And that’s where SecondOpinions.com comes in. Our U.S. board certified fellowship trained doctors and expert subspecialists are on call 24/7/365.
Women can upload their mammograms and our experts will read the images and provide their advanced second opinion. The price ranges from $29.00 -$99.00 per report.
There’s no waiting for an appointment or to be seen by a doctor. Our experts can have your report within as quickly as an hour. Get the peace of mind you need and deserve from SecondOpinions.com

Have you ever watched a medical drama on TV or in the movies and heard someone say “You should get a second opinion.” While it’s a fairly common phrase in Hollywood, the reality is few of us have ever independently requested a second opinion when receiving a medical diagnosis.
You might be surprised to learn the number of Americans who die from misdiagnoses each year. A study that examined 25 years of malpractice payments concluded that 40,000 to 80,000 people die each year in the United States either from diagnostic errors, obstetric mistakes or improperly delivering medications.
Diagnostic errors are the most common, the most costly and the most deadly of all medical errors, according to the study information listed in the National Practitioner Data Bank. Incorrect, missed or delayed diagnoses accounted for 39% of malpractice related deaths.
With so many errors occurring, a second opinion could save a life. That’s why we created SecondOpinions.com. While we offer second opinions in all areas of medicine, we feel that getting a proper radiologic diagnosis is the key. Because of our proprietary RADIOLOGY-ON-DEMAND® cloud technology, we are able to offer second opinions at an affordable price and deliver radiological reports within as quickly as an hour.
Researchers suggest diagnostic errors are harder to catch than medication and surgical errors. That’s why SecondOpinions.com has U.S. board-certified, fellowship trained doctors and subspecialist experts, trained at top American institutions, on call to study your images and provide you with their advanced second opinion.
No appointments are needed. Patients don’t have to wait days or weeks for a new consultation. Our subspecialist expert doctors are available 24/7/365 in all 50 states. The price ranges from $29.00 -$99.00 per report. You simply upload your MRI, CT, X-Ray, Mammogram, Ultrasound or Nuclear Medicine study and our expert doctors interpret then deliver the results in the privacy of your home or office.
There is a national push to lower health care costs and getting a second opinion helps eliminate unneeded procedures and surgeries thus lowering healthcare costs. Now you have an affordable option that could be the difference between life and death. Get the peace of mind you need and deserve from SecondOpinions.com.
Article link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/diagnostic-errors-are-leading-cause-of-successful-malpractice-claims/2013/04/22/e9194154-ab7d-11e2-b6fd-ba6f5f26d70e_story.html

New companies are lining up to help us make better medical decisions

Recently, the New England Journal of Medicine published a story of one oncologist’s experiences. The doctor writes about a new patient “scrunched up in bed, tossing and turning, his sheets tangled between his legs. He’s pale and uncomfortable, licking his lips, his IV fluids having run out. My immediate impression is that he’s dying. But I remind myself that he’s scheduled for surgery.” Despite doubts, the oncologist signs the patient off to his perceived superior, the surgeon, and the patient dies after a procedure he’s not strong enough to survive. It’s not an uplifting tale.

According to a 2010 Gallup poll, 70% of Americans trust their doctor’s advice so much that they never get a second opinion or do additional research. We spend more time researching which clothes to wear, buying HD TVs and even which resturant to eat dinner at. All of us should get our heads examined. Or, a second opinion and re-examined.

Medical errors in the U.S. cost about $20 billion a year—not to mention lives. A new health-care documentary, “Escape Fire,” notes that when you give doctors big rewards for doing certain procedures ($1,500 for putting in a stent versus, say, $15 for talking to a patient), that’s what they will do. Such procedures may be not just unhelpful (the Congressional Budget Office says up to 30% of them don’t improve outcomes) but hurtful. A study in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2010 found that 18% of patients were actually harmed by medical care.

So while we most of us refrain from rocking the boat—our doctors want to be right, we want to be reassured—others have stepped in. Second surgical opinion programs were introduced in 1972 by insurers, to improve patient decision-making and reduce the risks, and costs, of questionable operations.

In 2009, the Right to a Second Medical Opinion Act did worse than the patients it was trying to help and died on a congressional committee table. Today, though, the private second-opinion industry has never been healthier, boosted by medical imaging technology (MRIs, CT scans) and the ability to instantly transmit and view large amounts of medical data. Employers increasingly include second-opinion programs in their benefits, offering independent specialists to remotely review cases and give advice—and, the companies hope, lower their own costs.

Wherever you are, confidence in your doctor varies little with educational level, more with age: Younger patients are the most skeptical. Though clearly aware of this demographic trend and obviously in it for profit, second-opinion companies do encourage us to talk back, with compelling results.

An estimated 60% of cases, an alternate treatment is recommended—often one that’s more conservative and cheaper. At the Elizabeth Wende Breast Clinic in New York state, second opinions led to the cancellation of 73% of 1,053 surgeries in favor of less-invasive options.

But this soon-to-boom business usefully reminds us that any authority is biased and fallible. More information is better, and when it comes to health, it pays to probe and keep probing. Being opinionated is fine. Being second opinionated could save your life.