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Over time, the emphasis on increasing efficiency and reducing waste in medicine in general, and endoscopy in particular, has increased. Many endoscopic exams could be considered inappropriate or redundant, especially in patients who have recently undergone endoscopy.
In the current study, researchers evaluated the rate of inappropriate repeat esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) exams within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). They retrospectively analyzed data from more than 200,000 patients receiving continuous care at 159 VHA facilities during a 5-year period.
Over one third of patients (36%) underwent a repeat EGD within 5 years of the index procedure. Among repeat EGD's, 50% were categorized as likely appropriate, 41% as possible overu…