Here’s a story from a candid doctor about two factors that contribute to higher health care costs: a physician's fear of lawsuits and a patient's demand for unnecessary procedures.

Rutland family physician Dr. Peter Hogenkamp had a patient who was suffering from a severe headache. The patient wanted a CAT scan.

Hogenkamp says the woman’s condition met none of the criteria that should prompt a doctor to order a CAT scan, but he went ahead and approved one, “because she wanted it and I’m obviously concerned that if there ever is a problem and I don’t order the CAT scan…”

The test turned up nothing and the woman’s headache went away in another day or two. Hogenkamp says the radiologist who examined the test results told him that over a two year period there hadn’t been a single positive result from a CAT scan ordered for a headache on an outpatient basis.

“We cannot afford that little yield,” Hogenkamp says, adding, “The point is I was listening to the lawyers and not the doctors.”

Controlling costs - why its important, how it's done and what it means to patients - is part of the discussion we’ll be having during Vital Signs, April 11-15th on Vermont Edition.

Listen to Dr. Hogenkamp talk about his patient.