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.
Related posts:
- The Z-pack and a smooth discharge
- ER boarding
- Discharge instructions
- Should doctors who follow evidence-based guidelines be offered liability protection?
- RIP the outpatient internist?
- Do we really want to emulate the airline industry?
- The discharge planner
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This is one of the reasons why concierge medicine is so appealing for patients. These practices have the resources to organize, coordinate, inform and educate their patients. I tried all the most creative IT systems to not jsut improve my productivity, but also reduce chance mishaps such as teh article discusses. No matter how good we are as physicians, no matter how powerful the tools we can possees, NOTHING is a short cut for time. Taking care of a patient takes time. And my concierge practice allows me that time to bst serve the interests of my patients.
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