The Discouraging Way Doctors Are Just Like Their Patients

Maybe, just maybe, the secret to saving money in the U.S. health-care system is to give patients more information.

At least, that’s the hope in certain corners of the health-policy world. Armed with more knowledge about nutrition, the thinking goes, Americans might choose broccoli over burritos. For surgeries, everyone from the government to insurers is releasing cost-comparison tools so that patients can browse procedures much like they would used cars—even though some studies suggest that these tools don’t actually save any money.

A new challenges the notion that better-informed patients make better decisions. It found that an especially well-informed group of patients—physicians—don’t always make the best choices when they are patients, either.