Why the primary care system failure forces unnecessary referrals
A patient with diabetes, hypertension, and obesity comes in for her annual wellness visit. The physician has already spent 20 minutes on chronic disease management and lifestyle guidance. As the visit wraps up, the patient mentions daily heart palpitations that started a month ago.
The exam was benign. The physician has two choices: spend another 20 minutes performing an EKG, discussing differential diagnoses, and developing a workup plan; or refer to …
