THE LAGGING OUTPATIENT DEPARTMENT —A PROBLEM IN HOSPITAL ORGANIZATION

To the Editor:— Improved physical facilities and more scientific methods for diagnosis and treatment have been resulting in progressively better care for the inpatient, while the outpatient, it is generally admitted by modern students of the subject, has been denied many of the benefits of organizational progress in the general hospital. One cannot stress too strongly the need for creating conditions under which outpatient clinics—those stepchildren of the hospital family—can be enabled to give a higher quality of care. Clearly, the emphasis in the prevention and management of illness must also be felt by the ambulatory patient. The needs of the outpatient must be given at least equal consideration with those of the inpatient. Where the out-patient clinic is lacking in the essentials for diagnosis and treatment by a competent medical staff, preventive opportunities may be lost until illness reaches an advanced stage. A higher quality of service in the