Critically Appraising the Wellness Movement: Cost Without Value, A Narrative Review.

ReviewJournal of general internal medicine· Apr 2026

Critically Appraising the Wellness Movement: Cost Without Value, A Narrative Review.

Mai-Lan Ho, Eric J Topol, Pranav Rajpurkar

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OncologyReviewClinical practiceQ1IF 3.3

Low-value wellness tests account for over $100 billion in annual US downstream costs.

Critically Appraising the Wellness Movement: Cost Without Value, A Narrative Review.

Mai-Lan Ho … Pranav Rajpurkar

Journal of general internal medicine · Apr 2026 · Q1 in Internal Medicine

Background

Unrestrained enthusiasm for "wellness" testing has spawned a marketplace of direct-to-consumer genomics, broad laboratory panels, wearable sensors, and whole-body imaging that outpaces supporting evidence.

$100 billion

Results

$100 billion

extra US health spending each year on follow-up care triggered by unproven wellness tests

More results

We synthesize data across omics, sensors, imaging, and lifestyle medicine to propose a three-tier precision health framework that leverages AI population assessment with high-value testing based on pre-test probability: Tier 1 high-sensitivity screens, Tier 2 targeted confirmation, and Tier 3 precision interventions.

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Conclusion

Adopting this model could markedly reduce unnecessary medical exams and redirect resources toward proven preventive measures.

Critically Appraising the Wellness Movement: Cost Without Value, A Narrative Review.

Critically Appraising the Wellness Movement: Cost Without Value, A Narrative Review.

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