Dad has Covid now, not doing well. Please help me pray for him. Praying is not something I do often or well but my dad is my favorite human being and I need him to be okay. We’re at the hospital now and they have treated us with disgust and hate since we got here but he needs oxygen so I had to tolerate it. Please pray, thank you all. I know this place is a safe place for those of us who are tired of weathering the world.
Update: Still here, he has tested negative!! Still being treated for pneumonia and sepsis which is discouraging but I’m able to be here with him to help him and advocate for him. Thank you all for the continued prayers and kind words!! I’m alone here but your words are helping me through.
When there is a positive covid test, the hospital covid protocols automatically kick in - no exceptions. At that point, all control is lost by the patient and the family. Even a patient's physician has no say in treatment - especially if it is a closed critical care hospital. The hospitalist or intensivist is in charge and runs the show. They work for the hospital - not the patient. Dr Ardis has information on how to avoid medical kidnapping. It is real and needs to be taken seriously. Hospitals are being motivated by big money to treat covid patients - all to the neglect of other patients that need care.
The hospitals are private so they don’t work with other physicians. Like you have a private doctor, he works on his own or for a corporation. Unless that is the same place of business the hospital has no way of working with the family GP.
They’d have to hire the family GP for him or her to come into a different place of business to write orders. I’m just clarifying.
If you worked for Verizon selling phones, but your customer had a problem and went to T mobile to have a phone fixed, they can’t really cross work with each other. Hospitals hire their own doctors and sign contracts for surgeons to place their patients after surgery, in that situation you might have an outside doctor along with a hospitalist, but they do have a business contract with the surgeon.
I hope that is helpful as to why outside physicians can’t work in any hospital their patients decide to contract with. Insurances usually help these things slide along forming groups of professionals to work together.
You are correct about the more corporate structure of medical care today and how it has compartmentalized care to the extreme. However, there are still PCPs in private practice, as well as other physicians, that still have privileges for certain hospitals and in certain cases are still the attending physician - although they are becoming fewer in number over time. PCPs are often the last line of defense in fighting for their patients. I have personally been involved in battles with hospitals over patient care. It has really come to a head with covid. Some providers have had their privileges revoked because they tried to intervene and buck the hospital when trying to advocate for their hospitalized patients.
Over time the inpatient responsibilities have been kicked to the hospitalist rather than the patient's personal MD. There is good and bad with this system. In the case with critical care, the intensivist basically has complete control over what happens with a patient from the time the patient enters the ER. The last link of advocacy for the patient, which is their own personal provider, has being dismantled. The hospitalist and the intensivist work for the hospital. Because there is no patient advocacy, we now find ourselves in a crisis. Just talked to someone today who's friend escaped from a hospital after he had been vented. One of the staff must have missed giving him his dose of meds and he woke up. This is not the first time I have heard of such cases. I prefer to keep people out of the hospital and so far so good.
The hospital landscape has changed and patients need to understand they are not dealing with the old system any longer. That system quietly went away when they were not watching. Unfortunately for many, they had to come to this realization when a loved one became hospitalized with covid, or they were hospitalized for some other reason and then tested positive, and now they are living the nightmare of medical kidnapping. It is sad and frightening.
Also yes patients have long since signed contracts giving permission for a hospital to treat a patient. At that point the patient is agreeing to hire the hospital for care. Patients have rights, many of them that are outlined in the contract they agree to.
It’s at that point, when reading the contract, that the patient needs to let the hospital know what they are desiring. It’s like any business contract, coming in after the contract is signed, well, the hospital usually will say these terms were not agreed upon but you can always refuse any treatment or medication and change hospitals as long as you made sure it was agreed upon and you read the terms.
This might help people when they decide to hire a hospital. It’s a big thing especially since it’s your health. It’s probably a good idea to look up the hospital like you would any place of business and call beforehand to see what kind of services they offer. You can find out how well other customers rated that hospital and also ask your doctor to see if it’s a place aligned with your values or methods of treatment.
Agreed. It is a contract that most people do not bother to read when they sign those digital admission forms. Even if they give you a hard copy to read, there is no way to guarantee that your digital signature is being put to the form you think you are signing. Also, they have been changing those contracts slowly over time - especially since the passage of the ACA. Permissions are being granted in ways patients do not understand. Sadly, because of covid, patient rights have been suspended under CMS/Medicare/Medicaid. Patients need to be aware that the ground rules in the hospitals has changed - especially critical care. That is the part many are not aware of. This takeover of critical care in hospitals is frightening. Care is being dictated by AI algorithms and there is no room for any deviation. Many in the hospitals do not know where the orders are coming from other than from somewhere high up. The rank and file either follow orders or get packing. My suggestion is for people to have medical power of attorney forms filled out and signed. This has become an unfortunate reality in today's medical hospital landscape until something derails this train wreck. People are being murdered.