This discussion is threatening to derail the thread, but
Wrench 1: a 'stay' is laymen's slang for what doctors call 'an admission' so that is exactly what you are suggesting.
ethicalconundrum: back pain is a medical nightmare, with perhaps the largest cost expansion and scant evidence that simple procedures are less effective than the very costly ones. Cant agree more. Also agree there is defensive medicine, unnecessary tests and wasted money. But 25% of any parameter across a hospital or system is simply exaggeration. The sort of thing the Daily Moil reader might beleive