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Letters |17 September 2002

Clinical Inertia

Daniel Reinharth, MD

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  • East Meadow, NY 11554-2201
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TO THE EDITOR:
In the excellent article on clinical inertia by Phillips and colleagues (1), there is a section titled “Use of ‘Soft’ Reasons To Avoid Intensification of Therapy.” I believe that the impact of such soft reasons cannot be overemphasized. As a practicing clinician, I can testify to the difficulty in getting patients to take medications for apparently asymptomatic conditions, as well as having patients continue to take such medications over the long haul. If long-term adherence to treatment is enhanced by obtaining patient “buy-in,” then strategies employing nonmedication trials may delay reaching goal levels in the short run but may convince patients that medications are necessary and increase the likelihood of long-term adherence and treatment success. A major drawback to this strategy is that patients may quietly disappear from follow-up care.
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Reinharth D. Clinical Inertia. Ann Intern Med. ;137:547–548. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-137-6-200209170-00026

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Published: Ann Intern Med. 2002;137(6):547-548.

DOI: 10.7326/0003-4819-137-6-200209170-00026

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2002 American College of Physicians
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Print ISSN: 0003-4819 | Online ISSN: 1539-3704

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