We wish to respond to an editorial by Ray W. Gifford, Jr, MD (Archives 138:1207, 1978), and an article by Gregory W. Bartha, MD, and Charles A. Nugent, MD (Archives 138:1211-1213, 1978). Dr Gifford's editorial, written in support of the conclusions of Bartha and Nugent, questions the merits of obtaining routine chest roentgenograms and ECGs as part of the initial evaluation of patients with hypertension. The reason that their contention initially seemed to be justified is that, of the 116 patients evaluated for hypertension, the routine chest roentgenogram and ECG apparently led to "therapeutic or diagnostic interventions in only two instances." Thus, the authors concluded that these studies were not useful as baseline examinations, that they never were used for diagnostic purposes, and not even once were they used for prognostic purposes. They also concluded that the exclusion of these studies might save a substantial amount of health care delivery funds