Correspondence: Walter Ling Integrated Substance Abuse Programs, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA Tel +1 310 267 5888 Fax +1 310 312 0552 Email [email protected] Dear editor We have been surprised and gratified by the readers’ responses to our article, The Treatment Effectiveness Assessment (TEA): an efficient, patient-centered instrument for evaluating progress in recovery from ad...

We as physicians usually feel rewarded when our diagnostic hypothesis is confirmed. The answer to the quiz was correct. So the next step is to define the treatment, usually involving the prescription of appropriate medication. Naturally, after that we have the feeling that a good job has been done; but this is only almost correct. Although the diagnosis and the therapeutic are correct the most ...

background: antibiotics prescribed in the presumptuous treatment of infections may be ineffective if causative pathogens acquire resistance to prescribed antibiotics. in the absence of patient follow ups for treatment outcome assessments, healthcare providers may be unaware of the effectiveness of antibiotic treatments they provide. in the empiric treatment of infections particularly, such situ...