So I've been in the ER since 5:30pm yesterday

[bradly1101]

Private health insurance companies are the reason for our current mess, not the "complexities" of our culture. Our healthcare delivery system has tons of parasites attached to it: private healthcare insurance, medical billers and departments that have to deal with private insurance company red tape, unnecessary medial records keepers (every country with a decent health care system has a centralized record keeping system). This is billions of dollars in wasted money, every year.

If we had even a 20th century level (not even 21st century)healthcare system, tens of thousands (or more) of unnecessary health insurance and healthcare admin staff salaries would go away. We pay so much more and have to deal with so much more red tape (but it's private companies' red tape, so it's better! ).

Anyone who thinks that a for-profit scheme is the best way to deliver a public good like healthcare is an idiot who doesn't understand how the modern world works.

+1!

 

[bradly1101]

So much this. I was in the hospital last week. Spent a few hours in the ER and a couple days in a regular room. Every hour or two there was someone waking me up for one thing or another. I think I was actually able to get about 2 hours of uninterrupted sleep my second night in.

Doctors and nurses don't seem to realize that sleep aids in healing. I too can never get much sleep in a hospital.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Did you ask intelligent questions?

IMO, this is a big thing that makes and keeps patients in an aggravated state while in a hospital. Patients need to be proactive about their health and actively involved with the doctor's visit. Sleep deprivation and lack of comfort being another big one, obviously.

Saw this with my FIL during his cancer treatments. He'd huff and puff about the assholes on the floor not telling him anything. Yet, when my wife and I were there, we'd ask relevant questions and his experience was much more civil, informational and reassuring.

"What's the plan, doc?"
"What's next after that?"
"What if treatment fails?"
"What are the risks?"
"Nurse, I'm cold and hungry. Can I get a heated blanket? Has the doc approved a diet for my stay?"
etc, etc...

 

[Gooberlx2]

Doctors and nurses don't seem to realize that sleep aids in healing. I too can never get much sleep in a hospital.

They do, but there's not much they can do about it....unless you don't want your breathing and blood pressure being monitored while doped up.

 

[SolMiester]

Doctor saw some abnormalities on my blood work. Sent me to get a ct scan which confirmed pancreatitis.

Advised I go to the hospital they work with which is in a nice high upscale area a few miles from NYC. Not fully thinking I said ok and had my dad drop me off at the ER.

Went in everything was smooth sailing. Registered got a bed in the ER. Spoke to doctor. Gave me good drugs for the pain and I asked the nurse about my room.

Said they had one for me. I was like cool I have my laptop I can get some work done once I get to my room. Hour pass I'm like ok. Two hours pass and nada. Drugs starting to wear off so I call the nurse. She comes back and tells me there are no beds. I'm like Wtf? Says I would have to sleep where I am and from what I can expect shortly another patient will be wheeled in here so no sleep for me tonight.

Beautiful. I get to spend oh maybe 10k+ for an over night stay in the ER with bright lights and phones going off constantly. No quiet. I could have just stayed in my warm bed and chanced my health 50/50.

Oh as I type this on my phone no nurse to be found. No IV fluids in my bag. No sleep meds or pillow or blanket. The main reason I'm here is the fluids since I can't drink anything but guess what great level of care I'm getting.

Point is if you're really sick and you're expecting our health care system to actually care about you and your care then you're a dead duck. They ignore you like you are bothering them.

Sad state for American health care. I'm expecting to go to sleep once I finally demand to be discharged in the morning I mean a few hours.

I wouldnt pay the over night charge, dispute it as you didnt have a bed!

Oh, and get well soon!

 

[PhoKingGuy]

Frankly, you aren't going to die from pancreatitis and you can't have anything by mouth, ANYTHING until your labs normalize We give you fluids and pain meds and watch you, thats it.

You've been designated the lowest priority most likely, they are just waiting for a bed probably for you to go upstairs.

The GI doc came at lunch after his own clinic or rounds/etc. Dropped his own orders and consult note from there. You're going to be there a few days. Of course you can leave AMA but 90% chance you'll be back within a week.

Don't go to huge county hospitals if you don't want that kinda of treatment you're getting now. You may be complaining but frankly I care about the guy a few rooms over who can't breathe more than you.

 

[james1701]

Frankly, you aren't going to die from pancreatitis and you can't have anything by mouth, ANYTHING until your labs normalize We give you fluids and pain meds and watch you, thats it.

You've been designated the lowest priority most likely, they are just waiting for a bed probably for you to go upstairs.

The GI doc came at lunch after his own clinic or rounds/etc. Dropped his own orders and consult note from there. You're going to be there a few days. Of course you can leave AMA but 90% chance you'll be back within a week.

Don't go to huge county hospitals if you don't want that kinda of treatment you're getting now. You may be complaining but frankly I care about the guy a few rooms over who can't breathe more than you.

I approve this message!

 

[OverVolt]

+1!

Whelp with people voting like you makes sense we got the current system we have

Thanks bradly!

 

[TheVrolok]

Frankly, you aren't going to die from pancreatitis and you can't have anything by mouth, ANYTHING until your labs normalize We give you fluids and pain meds and watch you, thats it.

You've been designated the lowest priority most likely, they are just waiting for a bed probably for you to go upstairs.

The GI doc came at lunch after his own clinic or rounds/etc. Dropped his own orders and consult note from there. You're going to be there a few days. Of course you can leave AMA but 90% chance you'll be back within a week.

Don't go to huge county hospitals if you don't want that kinda of treatment you're getting now. You may be complaining but frankly I care about the guy a few rooms over who can't breathe more than you.

While essentially true on all accounts, pretty cynical before even graduating medical school, no? Or are you done now and the med school altruism has simply faded away?

 

[Linux23]

Frankly, you aren't going to die from pancreatitis and you can't have anything by mouth, ANYTHING until your labs normalize We give you fluids and pain meds and watch you, thats it.

You've been designated the lowest priority most likely, they are just waiting for a bed probably for you to go upstairs.

The GI doc came at lunch after his own clinic or rounds/etc. Dropped his own orders and consult note from there. You're going to be there a few days. Of course you can leave AMA but 90% chance you'll be back within a week.

Don't go to huge county hospitals if you don't want that kinda of treatment you're getting now. You may be complaining but frankly I care about the guy a few rooms over who can't breathe more than you.

I won't respond with what I really want to say or I'll be banned.

Labs stabilized since 6am this morning. So next?

Wait for it wait for it. I am waiting for my doctor to communicate the next step.

So doctors can't multitask between patients?

You sound like a real pompous prick.

 

[highland145]

You sound like a real pompous prick.

MD?

 

[PhoKingGuy]

Obviously i'm not saying that to my patients, but its in my head the entire time. You should have been communicated that from the get go, but if its a huge hospital I can see why it might have been skipped. They are probably busy dealing with the gangbanger GSW vics, stabbing lacs, drug withdrawl patients, etc.

I doubt your labs have normalized other you would have been shown the door ASAP, we want fast as possible turn over in an ED, enough so that the ED doc on duty was probably annoyed you hadn't gone upstairs yet since his job is done. If GI was consulted and recc'ed a procedure then I heavily doubt everything is ok especially if you're still in pain.

Things take time, we're sorry we can't follow you around but if someone is sicker than you they are getting my attention, end of story. If you were admitted to a teaching service you are usually seen in the late morning/early afternoon after the residents finish their rounds, notes, morning conference etc. Consults like you said will see you either first in the AM or at lunch depending on their schedule for something like your condition. No GI on earth is getting to the ED at 3 AM for routine pancreatitis and since they usually have procedures in the AM, they usually come at lunch or afternoon. That's life, here or in Canada or whereever else.

Medicine is always triaged, from the top to the bottom.

 

[highland145]

Medicine is always triaged, from the top to the bottom.

Practiced...

My last 3 family visits to the ER were great, except for the bill, but it wasn't flu season.

 

[PhoKingGuy]

Practiced...

My last 3 family visits to the ER were great, except for the bill, but it wasn't flu season.

If you're not actively dying then going to a smaller hospital is always probably a better bet. If you're having a heart attack then go to the biggest hospital with a heart center thats close by.

 

[Mai72]

'Murica!

People need to stop thinking that we're still the greatest country. This type of thinking breeds complacency. We need to be asking more questions, and we should demand better health care at an affordable rate. $10k a night to stay at a hospital is INSANE! The problem is most Americans have never traveled out of their little area, so they don't know what it's like in other countries. If they did, I believe more people would start to question why our system sucks.

 

[unokitty]

'Murica! ...

++

We're number one! We're number one! We're number one!

Oh, wait....

Nevermind.

Uno

 

[umbrella39]

Yes you would, and if your life actually depended on it, you'd likely receive excellent care.



Getting admitted through the ER isn't uncommon at all. In fact, it's often an expedited way of being admitted. PCP can't control if the hospital has no available beds. That said, usually the PCP calls the ED and/or hospital first and gives them a heads up, and they would normally inform them of the bed situation.

I work in an ER 5 days a week. It is a TERRIBLE way to get admitted and a very good way to get discharged home. The doctors and PA's have no clue why you are there if your PCP doesn't call ahead which from the sounds of it, his did not do.

 

[highland145]

If you're not actively dying then going to a smaller hospital is always probably a better bet. If you're having a heart attack then go to the biggest hospital with a heart center thats close by.

What if I have 1?

We were fortunate (?) with our timing. Couldn't get in today.

 

[bradley]

The ACA is the hugest powergrab in US history. The federal government simply knocks out insurance companies as middlemen. Absolutely nothing is done to reduces costs, such as allowing free-market competition between states for health insurance.

Instead, to decrease costs, the ACA is driving doctors away from a hospital model and more toward clinics. Except cutting costs is greatly affecting the overall quality of care. Clinics, both private and public, aren't able to offer anywhere near the same standard of care as regular hospitals, especially under medical emergencies.

The US is the most overmedicated - containing the most advanced hospitals - in the world. We spend the most per capita on health care, yet our results barely rival the longevity found in some 3rd world countries. Although at least in Cuba's health care isn't run by pharmaceutical cartels.


2012 WHO list of countries by life expectancy

Overall Life Expectancy (in years)
01. Japan 84.6
02. Andorra 84.2
03. Singapore 84
04. Hong Kong 83.8
05. San Marino 83.5
06. Iceland 83.3
07. Italy 83.1
08. Sweden 83
09. Australia 83
10. Switzerland 82.8
11. Canada 82.5
36. US 79.8
38. Cuba 79.4

Overall Male Life Expectancy (in years)
01. Japan 85
02. Singapore 82
03. Hong Kong 82
04. San Marino 82
05. Iceland 81.4
06. Sweden 81.4
07. Andorra 80.8
08. Australia 80.5
09. Italy 80.4
10. Switzerland 80.4
11. Canada 80.4
35. US 77.4
36. Cuba 77.4

Wha, wha, what? Japanese men outlive American men by 7.6 years, and probably have a much better diet and higher quality of life too. Talk about backwards health care. Let's all scoff at the numbers, take our synthetic Ambien and go back to sleep.

 

[OverVolt]

Whatever, I'm young. Enjoy your shit healthcare system you voted for.

 

[TheVrolok]

MD?

A shame. Too early in his career to talk like that.

 

[DCal430]

Really sad if you think of it. Well here's hoping I might get a glimpse of a doctor today. And pray that he's in network blue cross blue shield.

Is NJ like California. If it is then it is illegal for him to bill you, he must accept your insurance, balance billing is illegal here.

 

[Mai72]

Wha, wha, what? Japanese men outlive American men by 7.6 years, and probably have a much better diet and higher quality of life too. Talk about backwards health care. Let's all scoff at the numbers, take our synthetic Ambien and go back to sleep.

Those Japanese numbers might be skewed a bit, because of the people who live on the Okinawa islands and follow the Okinawan diet. These people easily reach 100, so when you have you compute the average between these people and the rest of Japan the life expectancy average is going to be higher. It's also been observed that when Okinawans move away their healthy eating habits deteriorate very quickly.

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/jun/19/japanese-diet-live-to-100

 

[walrus]

NM

 

[bradley]

Those Japanese numbers might be skewed a bit, because of the people who live on the Okinawa islands and follow the Okinawan diet. These people easily reach 100, so when you have you compute the average between these people and the rest of Japan the life expectancy average is going to be higher. It's also been observed that when Okinawans move away their healthy eating habits deteriorate very quickly.

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/jun/19/japanese-diet-live-to-100

Japan has a population of 126M of which the Okinawa islands represent 1.1%. But yeah, I greatly admire Okinawans and their longevity.

Although the 'world's oldest' list is fairly dominated by American centenarians. I bet part of this longevity results from living in the world's freest country, free enough (at least) to eschew modern medicines.

Japanese diet staples are simply way better than that of the US. Yet healthful food actually tastes really good. Americans merely were conditioned to eat refined oil/salty/sugary foods vs. fresh food. They haven't been trained otherwise.

American palates have been royally screwed by trans fats, MSG, cellulose and other inert elements, additives and preservatives.