Had a family member spend multiple days in the hospital recently. Luckily wasn’t COVID, still wasn’t good.
Anywho.
One of the nurses was telling the family member—after learning the fam wasn’t vaccinated—that even the doctors at our local hospital are finally starting to question the vaccines and their side effects. At least, amongst themselves and the staff. They aren’t at the point they’re speaking publicly about it yet. They have, however, told the administration there’s no way in hell they’re taking more forced boosters after what they’re seeing.
Apparently the jump in strokes is finally at noticeable levels. And they’re seeing people with weird spinal cord injuries/infections that, apparently, can only be linked to the vaccines.
Essentially the ACA shifted medicine into a data collection system that took the control away from clinicians and patients and handed it off to the bean counters and analysts. Diagnostic patient data collection and processing of that information has allowed for a more centralized medical control system versus what we had before. The transfer of patient information within the system is massive. This has enabled individuals higher up the food chain using computer models to establish what they deem are acceptable protocols for patient care based on this data collection. Patient care has slowly moved from the personal patient/clinician relationship to a more data driven one size fits all model better suited for cost considerations and efficiency than what is in the best interests of a specific patient.
The ACA laid the groundwork for this data driven system. Ask any physician in emergency care that has been around long enough to know what the old system was like. They will tell you that a huge amount of their time is now spent gathering the proper data that in the previous system used to be spent actually caring for patients. I knew many colleagues that packed their shingles away shortly after the changes of the ACA were implemented. For many, it was too much of a change from how they had been practicing for decades. Several of those practices simply disappeared forcing their patients into corporate care.
I realize that with progress comes change. Those that cannot change with the progress get left behind. But, change is not necessarily always for the better. I think when is comes to health care on this side of the passage of the ADA, we have lost far more than any perception of gain.
Thanks for your extensive reply. I recently had a go around with an ER. In hindsight I can see what you're talking about. It was insane. I had a slight head injury, and some abrasions. I was able to step into the ambulance, and converse with the attendants. Yet at the hospital it was full-on triage. They must have drugged me, because I had a full body CT scan I don't remember (there was a second I do remember that was for an old injury), and was fitted with a very uncomfortable neck brace. I was there for hours before getting the damn brace off, and walking out with a $15,000 bill.
Sounds familiar. I had a friend that was admitted through the emergency room - brought in by ambulance. I went and saw him in the ER about an hour after he arrived. I figured out pretty quick he had a gastric ulcer. But, it took them three days to finally get him diagnosed and fixed. Meanwhile, he stayed in the ER until they wheeled him in to do the scope. Then he was admitted after they had their diagnosis and he was patched up. The hospital bill was huge. I get the full on triage thing. Attorneys and a few bad apples in the doctor barrel has created the need to practice defensive medicine that is now to the extreme and total nonsense - not to mention expensive.
Once you go in, and it is a closed hospital system, which most hospitals are these days, a hospitalist or intensivist takes over your case. Sounds good and efficient on paper, but we are seeing the the flaws and dangers of this system of patient care management on full display during this pandemic. A patient's family or their own PCP has virtually no input. People do not read those damn intake forms very well and essentially sign their rights away and give the hospital permission to do all kinds of stuff.
I have always had issues when they went to digital signatures. Without hard copies of anything how does a person know what the hell they are signing. My advice to everyone is to have notarized copies of medical power of attorney forms on hand if there is any thought that a family member will be hospitalized. And make them give you a copy of what you are signing. They don't like it much, but I make them give me a hard copy to sign of the intake forms. They will try to give someone grief over it and say it can't be done blah, blah, blah. But I keep insisting. I also don't agree to hand my information over to third party that helps to feed this digital medical beast. It may not win the war, but at least I am fighting back my own way. For the sake of what sounds like convenience, patients every day give away their rights to medical privacy. We must stop and think about what we are doing. I am also afraid that by the time everyone figures out that this system they have built does not work, there won't be enough of us old farts left that actually know what it was like to actually practice using our experience and skills instead of a computer algorithm.
These are great tips Mac. Nice to hear an insider's take on the admission forms. You might consider doing a post on that. You take care to write clearly, and see to like enjoy conveying important information.
Thanks. It is my wheelhouse and about the only stuff I will chime in on. I will leave the other topics to those that have expertise in their own areas. We have a good mix of genres on this board. Take care.