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Many studies have documented substantial regional variation in medical practice in the U.S. In two new studies, researchers address this issue in different ways.
Dartmouth researchers grouped 306 U.S. regions into five quintiles of “intensity of practice,” according to a previously developed measure of Medicare spending. Then, they identified Medicare beneficiaries who changed their place of residence in 2001–2003. When people from a given practice-intensity quintile moved to a higher-intensity quintile, numbers of diagnoses, imaging procedures, and laboratory tests generally increased after they moved. In contrast, when people from a given quintile moved to a lower-intensity quintile, diagnoses and testing generally decreased. People who mo…