Hi Em, yes..the guidelines are not much…but I thought they have a few phrases that could be helpful. I think it is useful to know the “industry” standard that a doc could compare himself against.
Obviously a wise doctor would be way beyond the obvious…but the stated purpose…after acknowledging that the guidelines are not meant to be “complete, nor are they intended to be dogma. Our intent is to emphasize the importance of subclinical thyroid disease in the population and to heighten the awareness of its prevalence.” the stated purpose goes on to say…”The guidelines present a methodology of treatment that can be used to evaluate the process of care of thyroid disease. This may then be compared to patterns of care of the clinical endicrinologists and others who treat thyroid disease. An objective measure can then be used to evaluate outcomes from the point of view of cost, perceived quality and satisfaction by the patient, employer, and payor and prove the added-value of care the endocrinologists brings to the treatment of thyroid disease.”
Scarey? By the way…I don’t agree on alot of their treatment and management protocol.
Perhaps the question to ask a doctor..is CAN you swim up stream? WILL you if my health necessitates it? Are you a Physician or a provider of services? There are physicians who probably know enough to find some of the implications in the last paragraph above scarier than I do. Keep at it EM…