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Facebook LinkedIn RSS   Cheryl Clark, for HealthLeaders Media,
April 16, 2009  With so many patients deferring routine
screening or medical attention for their aches and pains, will
it eventually be more difficult to give, or too late?  Will
treatment be more complex, with longer and poorer recovery, more
invasive with longer stays in acute settings, higher risk of
infections and other unintended consequences? Will it then be
more expensive for everybody?  Might undetected cancer be given
time to spread or untreated cholesterol turn into life-
threatening artery blockages, or high blood pressure evolve to a
stroke?  Lots of questions but few answers with hard data so
far, physicians and hospital officials say. The economic
downturn is still too short-lived. It depends on how long it
lasts, how long patients put off care, and whether the Obama
administration will find any broad solutions.  Bu