Hospital, Dignity, Reality

[countryclubjoe]

Hi Folks

I have been very fortunate in my life time in terms of health, however this past week on Wednesday I was admitted to a local hospital. I will not bother you folks with my medical issue other then to say I need to start being more heart healthy.

The wake up call I received was very scary however the hospital stay was more freightening then anything I could of imagined.
You are striped of your pride, your dignity, you feel helpless and vulnerable along with realizing that your just a number.

Sorry for venting, I'm happy to be home.

Stay healthy my friends.

Best regards
CCJ

 

[Baron Kurtz]

You're absolutely right. My wife was unfortunate enough to spend 5 nights in an Indiana hospital in about 2005, with an inflamed and eventually removed gall bladder.

The surgeon was great … and cheap. The anaesthesiologist was suspect, though generally competent, and the remainder of the OR staff seemed good.

The nurses were another matter entirely. Unfeeling, uncaring, abusive and bullying, they seemed to be bitter about their job. They didn't like, and complained loudly about, having to help her to the toilet in her room (a little unsteady on her feet after 3 days of not eating). One of them consistently made snide comments about her *news to me* "lack of curves". The food was awful, unhealthy crap, like a school cafeteria. Had she not had health insurance, she would have been stuck with the $5000-a-night the hospital tried to bill her for the bed - nothing else, just the bed. Obviously the insurance company argued 95% of that away.

But the real problem, and this is the massive problem with the medical system, was before entering the ER. The doors to the ER were locked. She could not see anyone in there until she had filled in the forms to prove she had insurance or the money to pay for the potential treatment. She was obviously in pain, bent double, crying. Any compassion from the drone/robot behind the glass compartment? Not a bit of it. Just a blank, dead-eyed stare of uncaring bleh. This highlights starkly the motivations of the US medical system, I'm afraid - It's money. Don't have money or insurance you might as well lie down and die.

Whence Hippocrates? I guess he didn't have the cash to get into medical school.

[EDIT] This thread will undoubtedly get closed. Might I say before it does that it to the eternal discredit of the United States that medical care is a political issue.

 

[Atticus Finch]

This highlights starkly the motivations of the US medical system, I'm afraid - It's money. Don't have money or insurance you might as well lie down and die.[EDIT] This thread will undoubtedly get closed. Might I say before it does that it to the eternal discredit of the United States that medical care is a political issue.

My father was the chairman of our local hospital board for many years. He would frequently lament that a person admitted to their hospital without good insurance had only the hope of early death.

AF

 

[scotrace]

This is all rather nauseating to a fellow flying without health insurance.

 

[randooch]

I'd hazard a guess that that's most of us.

 

[Tomasso]

Might I say before it does that it to the eternal discredit of the United States that medical care is a political issue.

As an American, it probably brings me the greatest cause for embarrassment; and we're involved in a lot of embarrassing things........

 

[SHOWSOMECLASS]

Over the years in fire-ems I have delivered my share of patients to all the ER's in my area.
Unfortunately, some were only using our service to expedite the process of seeing a doctor w/o waiting in the ER admitting area.
No problem for them, those who work paid the bill.
Regarding hospital patient care I have observed in the ER, it varied greatly by hospital. Some I have noticed were understaffed all the time. The personnel at one hospitals favorite trick was, to delay meeting the patient until we lifted the individual to the bed.
It should also be noted that Hospitals use people in shifts. So the quality of care can vary based on which shift is on duty. If you are staying in a room during the night shift, staffing numbers go down to bare bones, people are tired, and most are enduring that schedule. They are paying their dues because they are lowest on the totem pole. Nurses bid for shifts based on seniority.

 

[SHOWSOMECLASS]

My wife does independent billing and remittance for a group of Pediatricians associated w/ one hospital. So she processes the bills submitted and posts the payment to the Dr's account. She has noted in many circumstances for numerous reasons the kids family's cannot pay.
Yet the Dr's have continued to treat the kids w/ only partial or no payment.
She said the saddest part is, following a kids billing records (chemo-radiation) and knowing their illness is most likely terminal.
Later one day she receives a letter from a Dr. stating the account should be closed.
Her heart breaks.
Many Dr's do care and are committed to the patients.

 

[Atticus Finch]

My wife does independent billing and remittance for a group of Pediatricians associated w/ one hospital. So she processes the bills submitted and posts the payment to the Dr's account. She has noted in many circumstances for numerous reasons the kids family's cannot pay.
Yet the Dr's have continued to treat the kids w/ only partial or no payment.
She said the saddest part is, following a kids billing records and knowing their illness is most likely terminal.
Later one day she receives a letter to close the account.

Her heart breaks.
Many Dr's do care and are committed to the patients.

No doubt about it. It is rare that a doctor withholds treatment from person in need. The doctors and other heathcare professionals are not the issue. It is the hospital administration and insurance reps that cause the heartache.

AF

 

[SHOWSOMECLASS]

Much can be said about this subject. It is easy to put the blame on one entity or the other.
My one comment is be your own advocate.
Health care providers at all levels are human. Some treat the symptoms w/o diagnosing the cause. The Insurance Co.'s employees also make errors regarding billing and customer payment responsibility.

 

[countryclubjoe]

Hospitals are the purest definition of the term " NECESSARY EVIL'

I was clever enough to have a family member bring me a couple pairs of SCRUBBS..(hospital clothing) so to cover myself up.
Had I not, I would have been subject to lying around and or being transported in a wheel chair with my private parts exposed to one and all.
Its very demeaning.. It gave me a new outlook on my health.

Stay healthy my friends

CCJ

 

[gtdean48]

...
My one comment is be your own advocate.
....

+1...I've been involved with healthcare my entire life it seems.
My father was a dentist, worked in his office. He was an owner of some nursing homes, did volunteer work there.
Went to college pre-med, worked as ER orderly & male nursing assistant during summers & holidays.
Worked for Healthcare IT vendors for almost 30 years doing clinical, departmental, patient billing & claims, etc., installed systems all over US.
It all depends on who is on shift & what kind of day they are having but you watch out for you & yours.
If your attitude is they'll take care of me, you may be surprised. Hospitals are the deadliest places on earth.

 

[LizzieMaine]

There's a reason why, when I needed major surgery, I had it done at a private hospital in Canada -- the cost was half of what it would have been in the good old USA. When the day comes that the health insurance industry is lined up against the wall and shot, you'll find me in the cheering throng.

And while individual doctors can certainly be caring and compassionate to people in need, the AMA has a century's worth of blood on its hands.

 

[SHOWSOMECLASS]

If you or a family member or friend require a hospital stay, make sure someone is their w/ them (you) all the time if possible. A workmate said his Dad was in the hospital w/ terminal cancer. While in the room his father went into respiratory arrest and he called the nurse station and received a acknowledgment. His father continued into phase-two, cardiac arrest. Still waiting no staff. He began doing CPR on his Dad and had to temporarily stop to call the nursing station again. I won't go into the rest of the details as it was a "scene" when they finally arrived.

Be your own advocate.

Second, if a family member or friend is in a care facility, visit regularly and on different days and times to see what kind of attention they are truly getting on a daily basis. Studies have shown people who have regular visitors in care facilities get much more attention than those who don't. Sad but true.
For example, we had a dear person from our congregation who had no direct family in the state. Those that knew her randomly stopped at least once weekly to read the Bible w/ her. While there we asked to see her chart and talked to someone on staff sometimes just for a few seconds about her general health. She was African-American so it was quite obvious to the staff we were not relation. The staff said she received more visitors than most others in the facility. We all agreed she was getting much better care than others we observed w/ in the same wing.

Be your own advocate.

 

[sheeplady]

And while individual doctors can certainly be caring and compassionate to people in need, the AMA has a century's worth of blood on its hands.

The AMA at it's best is a lobbying organization according to some physicians- plenty of my doctors' won't belong and have much worse opinions of it. It by far doesn't have the support of everyone in the medical community.



I am fortunate to have had pretty good luck with doctors (and have yet to be hospitalized, but will be sometime in 2013). However, I have often found the support staff lacking at my primary physician (I love her) and some doctors to be pretty heartless. I've had good luck with our insurance, but that's only because they seem pretty decent overall as a company (and we have good insurance to begin with).

Many of the people I went to school with who ended up being physicians I wouldn't let touch me- getting into med school is so competitive that lots of people I knew who made it were far too cut throat for me to ever trust them. I really don't care how good they are on paper, but I don't trust people who lie and cheat to get into a profession not to do it in the profession.

 

[hatophile]

I have a couple of things to throw in here. My wife and I are both physicians, and we have also both been patients, most recently my wife for a very serious, potentially lethal condition. Between ourselves and family members we have seen both the good and bad sides of medical care. Unfortunately, while many in the medical field are dedicated, sympathetic individuals, there are also many who may have started that way, but gotten jaded or burned out over time. We have both decided if we become that way, it is time to get into another line of work. I have to say that our last experience was as pleasant as could be under the circumstances.

I have also come to the conclusion that the best way to avoid immersion in the medical system is to try to keep myself as healthy as possible. Certainly easier said than done.

 

[SHOWSOMECLASS]

Agreed. Certainly the same can be said for teachers, law enforcement officers, counselors, EMS providers, etc. Basically anyone who falls into the category of providing a service that centers around helping people.
Realistically for most, the tipping point in ones professional life when they have mentally concluded they are burned out or jaded is after a number of years. For them it is now financially and practically too late to go back to school or start anew w/ a different company. So most of these folks just ride it out until retirement.

 

[John in Covina]

In Covina at the local hospital, I was admitted earlier this year with congestive heart failure. Literally i had too much salt in y body which retained fluid which made it really hard fro my heart to pump and for me to breathe. I found the nursing staff to be competant and caring, they were helpful to a high degree. The doctors were pretty good but were always in a hurry trying to get to as many patients as they could, they did however give great explanations and answered all of my questions.

 

[jamespowers]

Man, I have never had any of these experiences. Doctors and health care for me and my wife have always been top notch here. The doctors are usually on the spot and they get things done quickly and efficiently. I have never had a problem.
My advice for having the same thing is to look around. Maybe the hospital you choose isn't exactly the most suited for what you want. Maybe you need to choose a different doctor if they are not attentive or make you wait too long. I have never had any compunction about choosing my doctors based on references and actually being competent. A little research and sticking up for yourself will get you much farther than taking whatever comes your way. If that meant driving my wife 40 miles to the better hospital in our area to have our child then I did it.

 

[LocktownDog]

This thread scares the heck out of me.