Nearly 90 percent of 8,000 respondents in a recent Consumer Reports survey stated that they thought it was preferable to simply undergo a recommended medical test -- even if they had no apparent symptoms to support undergoing the treatment or procedure -- and suffer stress en route to receiving a "normal" result than to not get tested at all.

Increasingly, medical studies are concluding that such a view is in error, with researchers stating that unnecessary testing can subsequently read to misdiagnosis of a condition, additional unneeded testing and/or treatment, surgery that is uncalled for and serious patient harm.

The Consumer Reports study reveals that many doctors are advising tests and procedures in a high number of cases that seem facially inappropriate. For example, a majority of the several thousand survey respondents noted that they had undergone one test or more recommended only for persons with heart disease symptoms or at "high risk" for developing heart disease, despite lacking any history of heart trouble. Most simply agreed to the testing because their doctor recommended it.

Medical organizations and many physicians themselves are increasingly advising patients to be more proactive in their medical care by asking questions and, when not feeling confident or knowledgeable about a recommendation, seeking a second opinion.

And here's one more thing to think about. Medicare is concerned with the practice of doctors recommending that their patients undergo tests -- e.g., MRIs -- in facilities that those doctors themselves own. Medicare patients are required to be advised in writing that the same testing is available elsewhere. The point: A patient who is repeatedly advised to undergo testing in-house by his or her doctor should ask questions and consider going to an independent facility.

Related Resource: Washington Post, "Consumer Reports: Unnecessary tests can drive up costs, harm patients" July 25, 2011