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March 17, 2009
Quality care
Yesterday, the latest issue of JAPS arrived. It contains an article by Dr. Terrell published posthumously. It will give readers unfamiliar with his work just a taste of the stupendous wisdom, wit and insight of the man. I happened across a discussion on-line of the concept of quality care, and found some good comments by Dr. Centor. But unfortunately, even this excellent discussion misses Dr. Terrell's main concerns. Knowledge of data is helpful, but not the main concern in medicine. This is because diagnoses are not discoveries, but decisions. Individuals should not be lost in the data. Quality medical care cannot be measured and standardized if the individual's suffering is the main point of concern. There are too many competing issues to standardize.
This article deserves wide, careful and repeated reading by anyone who has medical problems, or in the medical fields.
| By Robert Maddox | 4:21 PM