How big is the problem of low-value health care service use?

This _Spotlight _describes the use of low-value health care services by private plan enrollees age 50+. A number of studies have reported widespread use of low-value health care services

that amount to billions of wasted dollars. Use of these services is considered clinically inappropriate in most cases, such as diagnostic imaging for a simple headache. In an effort to

understand the scope of the problem, we studied the use of 16 low-value services, including cancer screening tests, diagnostic imaging, and invasive procedures from 2009 to 2014. This PPI

Spotlight by Keith Lind summarizes our findings, which first appeared in the journal _Medical Care_, and provides a rough estimate for the extent of spending associated with these 16

low-value services. Related blogs by Elizabeth Carter of AARP’s Public Policy Institute, _The Slippery Slope of Low-Value Medical Services, _and Margot Walthall and Darshak Sanghavi of

OptumLabs®, Translating Shades of Grey: How can we accelerate value in health care? Provide complementary perspectives on the topic of low-value services. Among the Spotlight highlights: In

2014, the use of the 16 low-value health care services we looked at accounted for roughly 1.5% (about $5.4 billion) of health care spending for enrollees age 50+ in commercial insurance

plans and enrollees age 65+ in Medicare Advantage plans. We compared our findings with results from other studies that have reached similar conclusions. Unfortunately, the solution to

reducing low-value care is hardly straightforward because services that are deemed low value in many cases may actually be of _high_ value in some cases, depending on the clinical

circumstances.