"You really have to think about the opportunity cost here," said Dr. Giang Nguyen of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
"When we take those extra minutes out of a visit, which might only be 15 minutes long, you’re preventing the patient and the provider from using that time for things that we have strong evidence for, like counseling about weight management, talking about smoking cessation, reviewing other parts of their sexual history that maybe would be useful to talk about in order to prevent future illness," he added.
Dr. Giang Nguyen
Given the shortage of primary care physicians, Dr. Nguyen said spending visit time on screenings that aren’t evidence based essentially reduces access to care.
The American Academy of Family Physicians doesn’t have a recommendation for or against performing screening pelvic exams. As part of the Choosing Wisely campaign, the AAFP issued a clinical recommendation against requiring a pelvic exam or other physical exam to prescribe oral contraceptives.
mschneider@frontlinemedcom.com
On Twitter @MaryEllenNY