The State of Medical Care Today

Tabby Ann

Tabby Ann

Member
Location
Southern Indiana
The state of medial care today in my area is disappointing. Doctors are difficult to reach by phone, they perch themselves in offices that are not convenient for patients, and they surround themselves with inefficient, inaccurate and unprofessional office staff. Their method of treatment is whatever pharmaceutical companies tell them to prescribe, and with the exception of a few skilled surgeons and emergency trauma doctors, patients rarely see immediate improvement. Long term improvement may be due more to patient changes in their own lifestyle than to medical treatment.
 

Yes, I've had some bad experiences and a few good ones. And sometimes a doctor has been good for some stuff then useless for other issues. And the nurses and other office staff have also been quite a mixture, some better than the doctor and some sadly clueless. I think a lot doctors could be easily replaced by artificial intelligence.
 

Alligatorob said:
Must be better here, my wife got a UTI and went to one of those instant care places. She was seen, by doctor, and tested right away, home with an antibiotic prescription in less than an hour. This is on a Saturday night.

They took her Medicare and AARP supplemental, so we paid nothing.
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I do think the newer walk-in clinics are better than regular doctors offices. I went to my regular doctor for bronchitis and was left sitting in a metal chair in a small exam room for half hour with cold air blowing from the ceiling diffuser. I got up and left and went across the street to a new walk-in clinic that had a big sign out front that said 5 minute wait time. I saw a doctor within 5 minutes and got a prescription for azithromycin and was well in a couple of days, and Medicare paid for most of the visit.
 
Every doctor the wife has seen in this area is pushing 70 or more and there doesn't seem to be a lot of replacements coming up the pipeline. :( That plus every one of the 4 hospital's in this area are short staffed and therefore constantly on bypass. Lot's of empty beds, but no help. I'm thinking it will get worse.
 
I find this varies from region to region. My experience in South Florida was horrible. We took my father to the emergency room with severe stomach pains. They said he must have twisted a muscle from exercising, and he passed away days later (over the Thanksgiving holiday when his doctor's office was closed) from a twisted bowel. Afterward, I started taking my mother to the doctor. One organization literally mixed up her name with another that was close to it and scheduled her for surgery meant for someone else. I caught the mistake, so crisis averted. She had great care in TX.

I still remember visiting my doctor right before we moved to TX and he told me medical care would be much better here. He was right. I can get an appointment with my doctor at any time, and if I need a prescription refilled I simply call his staff and it is refilled within a day. I go for my 6-month exam, and my doctor provides the outcome of my tests and is very clear in explaining the results and providing recommendations. I have absolutely no complaints.
 
squatting dog said:
Every doctor the wife has seen in this area is pushing 70 or more and there doesn't seem to be a lot of replacements coming up the pipeline. :( That plus every one of the 4 hospital's in this area are short staffed and therefore constantly on bypass. Lot's of empty beds, but no help. I'm thinking it will get worse.
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This is why when people are so anti-immigration I ask them who is going to fill those roles in the future. My partner's parents immigrated from the Philippines in the 60's. His mother was a doctor and his father was a hospital administrator. All their friends were doctors. There was a need for more medical experts in those days, and our country offered incentives to get them to move here.

When my mother was in the hospital and was in assisted living, many of her caregivers were from other countries. Many of them were from India or the Philippines. We actually need more immigrants who are specialists in the medical field to fill these roles.
 
dseag2 said:
I find this varies from region to region.
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I am sure it does, and even varies within a place. We have twice use the ER in our local hospital.

For me it was a very painful hernia, I quickly saw a doctor who was able to push everything back into place. It held up until I got surgery.

For my wife it wasn't so good. Same ER, same hospital. She had fallen, broke one wrist and badly sprained the other. After a long wait she was misdiagnosed as have broken both wrists. The one that was really broken was improperly set, she had to have surgery to rebreak it and reset. Fortunately the sprained one healed quickly, no thanks to the ER doctor.

I don't know how to control the quality of care you get in these places...
 
Tabby Ann said:
The state of medial care today in my area is disappointing. Doctors are difficult to reach by phone, they perch themselves in offices that are not convenient for patients, and they surround themselves with inefficient, inaccurate and unprofessional office staff. Their method of treatment is whatever pharmaceutical companies tell them to prescribe, and with the exception of a few skilled surgeons and emergency trauma doctors, patients rarely see immediate improvement. Long term improvement may be due more to patient changes in their own lifestyle than to medical treatment.
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^^^^^ Pretty much covered it.
And I couldn't have said it better.
 
Nathan said:
Kaiser Permanente provides excellent care, physicians are not allowed to take gratuities from drug salesmen. Medicare pays Kaiser for Part A & B, we pay $20/mo. each which includes drugs, glasses, hearing, dental and fitness membership.
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Yes, if you're lucky Kaiser Permanente may be OK. HMO's only make money when they avoid treating patients or treat patients on the cheap.
When my mother had appendicitis, Kaiser Permanente ("Top Rated Health HMO") sent her home with gas pills three times.
I have no medical education, but I could see the bulge through her nightgown & she had a temperature & on the third visit, I told the ER doctor to check for appendicitis. Dr. Moron responded by asking me what medical school I graduated from. They sent her home.

I called paramedics & they didn't want to risk a 10-mile trip to Kaiser again & they took her to a closer hospital 1-mile away where she wasn't a member. As they were getting her ready for surgery, her appendix burst & they were barely able to save her. She later needed a second surgery because the infection spread when her appendix burst & they had to remove a section of intestine - because of their 3-day delay.

After she got home, Kaiser demanded payment of $10,000.00 for the 1-mile ambulance ride to the closer hospital.... when it was THEIR fault & after almost causing her death. They said she must pay because she chose to be treated at a non-Kaiser facility.
They sent a couple of letters demanding payment.
I wrote to their "Director of Nursing." My correspondence ended with: "Kaiser provides wonderful dedicated care.....for patients who want to end their lives," along with a few choice unmentionable adjectives.
I also said, "Best of luck collecting the $10,000.00."
Then, I asked if they would like me to come in & discuss the bill. They said, "That won't be necessary."
I guess they didn't want to meet me in person......which really hurt my delicate feelings. :ROFLMAO:
 
At my stay at MU Health Center Hospital I saw so many different illnesses, and some were suffering pretty bad. I think some health issues are easier to diagnose than others. The quality of the doctors and nurses were good, but it is a large "teaching" hospital. Other locations are under staffed and have less competent staff. Even though they tell you they are going to do everything they can to make you better, they stay within safe guidelines so they will not be sued, or make fatal mistakes. Diagnosis for some illnesses is difficult and a patient can get dependent on pharmaceuticals. I am. BUT, I try to keep them a bare minimum.
 
My dear friend told me years ago that we need to be our own advocate when going to the doctor. In other words, know why you are going and have notes regarding your issue. I do a lot of research on line with sites like Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins and Cedar Sanai. You can type in your symptoms or question regarding what you may think is going on and you can usually get enough info to pose some questions to your provider. All doctors won't respond the same. Some will be put off because you are encroaching on their profession, others will welcome the input. My experience has been on the positive side. I don't come across as knowing, only asking. I have found by not telling them I have done research on line it's better. If it comes up, I tell them where I got the info and it seems to work. I do not use those sites that profess med. info and are simply sites to get ad monies.
I have come to a place, when speaking with others, of understanding the doctors dilemma. Many people see the doctor and don't know what to say and this leaves doctors with only offering an educated guess.
Example: Once I was experiencing irregular heart beat. I had a bunch of test done by the cardio doc and nothing showed. I had done research and discovered a thyroid imbalance could cause this. I asked my primary to run a test, he had already done one but not correctly. The test normally run by Primaries is only for free TSH, my research and later the gastroenterologist said that Free TSH and T-3 and T-4 needed to be tested for correct results. My Primary called personally, you read that right, and told me I was right and then thanked me for pushing for the test.
There are more but I don't want to run on.
As far as all the meds that are prescribed, that's entirely up to you. I way out the benefits against the possible side effects and make my own informed decision. You don't have to go along with everything. Sometimes things just run their course. It's your body, right?
 
win231 said:
Yes, if you're lucky Kaiser Permanente may be OK. HMO's only make money when they avoid treating patients or treat patients on the cheap.
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Perhaps I was lucky, but over the 45 years I've been with Kaiser they're delivered me 2 fine babies, provided my family of 5 with good care through sickness and broken bones, visits for stitches, saving my wife's life through 3 different cancer cases and surgeries / treatments, and the various treatments I've received to better my life. I prefer an HMO over a PPO, don't like the lawyers and accountants making the decision over whether or not an exam or treatment is going to be approved.
 
I thought of something after I posted my last remarks. One thing I know for sure is the type of medical coverage makes a big difference in how your treatment is handled. Twelve years ago I had a liver transplant and had excellent insurance. At that time a transplant cost was around one million dollars. Today, I've read it's around four million. I was treated like a king , other than one nurse, I think her name was Ratchet, another story. I had no money leave my own pocket. A few years later I was flown in by helicopter because something had gone awry. I had not been able to work since the operation and was on Medi-Cal, California's Medicaid, and was not old enough for Medicare. I was treated like a second class citizen. I couldn't get anyone to respond to my needs, the staff was not pleasant. Overall, a different experience. By the way, I got a bill for the helicopter, $46,000. Not covered.
I think age and coverage play a big part in what kind of treatment we receive. I sometimes think after seeing a doctor and not getting an answer to what ails me, if I were rich or powerful I wouldn't driving home, I would be in the hospital until they found the reason for what ails me.
 
So far, the medical care we've received has been satisfactory, but we're lucky in that we haven't had any major issues....knock wood. What I find disturbing is the statistics that show that we, in the U.S.....pay twice as much for medical care, as most other nations, yet rank way down the list in terms of value received for those expenditures. It seems that far too many facets of our system are guided more by Money, than patient care.
 
dseag2 said:
This is why when people are so anti-immigration I ask them who is going to fill those roles in the future. My partner's parents immigrated from the Philippines in the 60's. His mother was a doctor and his father was a hospital administrator. All their friends were doctors. There was a need for more medical experts in those days, and our country offered incentives to get them to move here.

When my mother was in the hospital and was in assisted living, many of her caregivers were from other countries. Many of them were from India or the Philippines. We actually need more immigrants who are specialists in the medical field to fill these roles.
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We can always use immigrants who present themselves legally and bring with them useful skills or assets.
 
I can't disagree with your post OP. I think it's scary if and when someone needs ongoing care. I never want to be one of their 'products.'
 

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