Medical tests: Are you getting too many?

There's growing concern about medical tests -- whether you're getting too many of them, and which ones should be part of a regular doctor's visit.

Should you always get an EKG or cholesterol screening? And how often do women really need bone scans for osteoporosis?

Health care costs in the United States have skyrocketed to more than $2 trillion a year -- up from $253 billion in 1980. The concern is that tests can waste time and money and sometimes do more harm than good if they raise unnecessary worry and lead to unneeded follow-up care.

On "CBS This Morning," Dr. Holly Phillips and Lee Woodruff took a look at some of the more common over-used medical tests identified by the American College of Physicians and why -- and when -- you might need those tests.

During the discussion, Phillips said, "We get the tests because the doctor recommends it, and as a doctor, I don't do (tests) unilaterally. (There) are recommendations that still come out of the National Cancer Institute and the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force. Other things help guide us in terms of the direction we should be going with testing. But this recent research is saying, maybe we're doing a little too much, but of course, until the recommendations change, I'm not going to change in my practice, either."

Check out the video above for the full discussion.