Letters to the Editor: Standardized Medicine Doesn't Mean Better Medicine - WSJ.com

Letters to the Editor: Standardized Medicine Doesn't Mean Better Medicine - WSJ.com Words of caution from an ear, nose and throat specialist that standardized medicine or "best care" must be based on "an all-too-frequent "right diagnosis."" He estimates that about 40% of his patients were" initially misdiagnosed, usually because of misleading symptoms," and he argues that "cook book" approaches to diagnosis and treatment do not necessarily mean better medicine.

Since standardized care relies so heavily on an initially correct diagnosis I sure hope that medical schools are making their diagnosis and assessment courses even more challenging and demanding than ever before.  The providers of the future are going to have to rely on well-honed diagnostic skills to "get it right" the first time, or at least the second or third times for standardized care to be a cost-saving, even life-saving foundation of the US health care system.