Doctors, Hospitals & Compassion

[Derek_Plumber]

Do doctors and hospitals really really care about their patients, or is it all about big bucks and medical corporations?

As a person who's wife doen not have medical insurance, I would like to address your question.

My wife was hopsitalized for cavatal pneumonia, which was really bad, and it took several day of very high priced drugs, after all the tests they ran to discover what the problem was, but the attending doctor refused to charge for her services, and the hospital reduced the bill about 93% because she did not have insurance, and we did not qualify for financial assistance. Of course there were several other bills from labs, consultants, and etc. but they, along with the hospital, were willing to work with me, allowing me to pay in monthly installments, ranging from $150 per month, down to some as low as $10 per month, with no interest.

So I believe that doctors and hospitals do care about their patients. Also there was no money required up front to admit, or treat her.

This is wonderful! You should send a "thank you" to all who helped your wife. Few medical stories end with this kind of happy ending. Most medical bills are highly inflated, (recently I saw $54 for a single pill that cost less than a buck at the pharmacy). The bills are inflated to punish the uninsured, and to make those of us with insurance think insurance is a great deal.

 

[strollingbones]

you do know your ass can refuse medical treatment...call ama...against medical advice....see a witchdoctor they charge even more

 

[Big Black Dog]

This post kind of hits home with me. I know that everybody has had bad experiences with doctors, nurses, hospitals, and maybe others how work in medical institutions. I think the care you receive is pretty much like the guy who puts the tires on your car. If he's really good, chances are you're going to get good service. His attitude towards his job has a lot to do with the services he provides. Good attitude most often then not means good service. I think people in the medical care industry are pretty much the same. If you go in acting like a jackass, they can out jackass you in rebutal. My wife was in a very serious automobile accident two years ago this month. She had multiple severe fractures and as a result over the course of a month she required five different ortho surgeries. She was in the hospital for just over a month and then went to a local nursing home to heal and have some physical rehab for 2 1/2 months. Here total medical bills were over a million dollars. Thank goodness for good insurance. Just about everybody we came into contact with during her course of treatment was very professional, appeared to be sincere and caring, and had a fairly good idea of what they were doing. I think the thing that helped all of this out was the wife's attitude towards her treatment and rehab. If she had of acted like a demanding jackass I'm sure her treatment from her health care team might have been very different. I think the point I'm trying to make is attitude comes into just about every aspect of your life. Display a poor attitude and everybody else will too.

 

[Derek_Plumber]

you do know your ass can refuse medical treatment...call ama...against medical advice....see a witchdoctor they charge even more

Nobody has said a word about the science, including me. The questions are competence of doctors, cost, and why 46,000,000 don't have health care coverage. With what we pay, the United States should have the best health coverage in the world. The World Health Organization ranks the US #37. Why?

 

[lynn63]

The insurance companies drove up the cost of healthcare so that everyone would need insurance to pay for their healthcare. In the 80's before health insurance exploded, an office visit cost $25 to $45 dollars, today it cost approx $150 dollars.

 

[Skull Pilot]

I don't have too much respect for doctors. In my experience all you get is a 10 minute office visit and a prescription or a referral.

They really don't give a shit.

 

[Queecho Feecho]

Do doctors and hospitals really really care about their patients, or is it all about big bucks and medical corporations?

I placed this thread after what happened to a guy I know. He went into the hospital for a ten day "medication evaluation." $20,000 later he is back home. Two weeks after that he is bed-ridden and sicker than a dog. The hospital gave him the wrong pills! He went to his insurance company and told them not to pay. Doctors should be required to pass a competency test every year.

According to Reuters hospital profits are down. But, you know I saw my friend's itemized bill. $54 for a pill you could buy in a pharmacy for less than a buck! Sounds like just plain bad management. Start firing the execs, and nationalize the health care system!

Wait - so you think having government run the whole healthcare system will lead to more caring and compassion?

Please explain how that works. I understand you've observed instances in the current system you're not satisfied with, but that doesn't automatically mean a nationalized system would be better in any way, let alone have more caring and compassion.

In your friend's situation, if the provider of care makes a negligent mistake, then your friend would have some recourse in the court system. Do you think they'd have the same recourse if the federal government was on the other side?

 

[Katzndogz]

The insurance companies drove up the cost of healthcare so that everyone would need insurance to pay for their healthcare. In the 80's before health insurance exploded, an office visit cost $25 to $45 dollars, today it cost approx $150 dollars.

Lawyers drove up the cost of healthcare. The paperwork insurance companies require drove up healthcare.

I pay my doctor $50.00 a visit, including lab fees. I don't have insurance. Because I don't have insurance, the doctor does not have to pay someone to fill out reams of forms to go to the insurance company.

I had to go to the emergency room to get stitches for a laceration. I was presented with a bill for $1,800. I told them I did not have insurance. It was their mistake. My bill was only $150.00.