Abigail Zuger writes about how pressure about early hospital discharges sometimes confuses the diagnostic trail. Scattered outpatient follow-up for specialists and tests is not the most efficient way to diagnose:
Some liken the process of health care to a plane ride, a smooth arc from illness to wellness. But (this is your pilot speaking) among the many details overlooked by this appealing metaphor are the difficulties of just getting on the plane. The ticket price aside, the boarding process requires a stamina generally in short supply among the ill. For the feverish, or nauseated, or those not quite sure what decade they are in, catching that health care flight ranges from problematic to impossible. The doctor’s office, the M.R.I. suite, the various other tests and subspecialists scattered around town might as well be on the moon.
