FDA recommends that doctors supervise genetic testing

[CycloWizard]

No. Where do you come up with these hair brained ideas? :\

No? I didn't ask a question, but you answered it with a no. What are you reading?

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Lot's of people don't go to the doctor, who should. Some of them die.

Should we regulate weekly visits?

Don't get me wrong, I'd be happy enough if with a triage layer of nurses who were allowed to prescribe for a least some problems if it would reduce the insane cost of medical care.

Edit - Think of it this way: You are almost certainly 'not an expert' on both brains and hearts, but can probably tell who needs a neurologist and who needs a cardiologist. The most important skill is to recognize the limits of your own ignorance. A nurse can see the difference between athlete's foot and gangrene, and force the patient up the ladder if it's serious. Working this way could mean one doctor backing up three or four nurses, and cutting the cost of visits in half for the patient.

You might have read where I have posted that there needs to be a good understanding of the state of health care and that acquisition and allocation of resources was vital to improving the system. Here you make a good point that a reorganization and re-prioritization of would be beneficial. The idea that people should treat their children's earaches when they haven't a clue wasn't, or at least that's what you appeared to say.

I rarely see an MD. My primary is a PA, and she's pretty good. If I need specialist such as an endocrinologist, then I'm going to see one, but for most things she's good enough. Not only that, if I need an hour of her time I have it. Idiots who reimburse for costs want to get as many people seen in a given time as possible. They think technology will replace human interaction. Those people are usually those who don't know shit about health care. The most effective way to "get it right" is that the initial consult/history should take a competent physician an hour and a half. That's not a guessed at figure, but results based. A diagnostic god can do it in about an hour. Needless to say they are rare.

While I agree that a triage arrangement is certainly beneficial, especially in repeat conditions such as frequent strep infections, when a patient is first seen they should be scrupulously examined. Why? Because your ankle hurts. You go to the doc you've never seen. You go in you go out. Unfortunately he didn't notice you are a diabetic with metabolic syndrome or didn't see that patch of cancer on your face. Initial consults are valuable because they pick up on things you didn't have a complaint about. Can't tell you how often this happens. The social and financial advantages of catching a condition before it does irreparable harm should be obvious, but instead we want to toss someone out to see the next guy because that's how we're set up. It's crazy.