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Harry B. Soletsky, MD
Wesconn Medical Associates, PC Brookfield, Conn

JAMA. 1981;246(21):2432.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

I believe an alternate perspective should be considered regarding Dr Hardison's editorial "Whatever Happened to the Chief Complaint?" (1981;245:1942). Certainly the descriptions mentioned, where a chief complaint is determined by some other reason for admission (such as cardiac catheterization, another course of chemotherapy, or disposition problem), should also bring to mind some alternate thoughts in medical care. As a medical student I was taught to ask for chief complaints and take extensive histories and physicals; these were usually followed by comprehensive laboratory tests. The intent was to do a workup from "stem to stern." Such procedures are not an excuse for poor diagnostic ability but more an acknowledgment that a hospital is now a proper place to take care of one particular problem. I believe such approaches can be extremely cost-effective: it can certainly be expensive if one cannot leave the hospital without every complaint being totally . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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