Judy Feder for Congress!!
As many of you know, the Dean of my graduate program is running for a US House of Representatives seat in Fairfax County, Virginia, just outside Washington, DC. A Harvard-trained political scientist, Judy gained fame in the early Clinton years as his health care specialist. I never fully understood the need for health care reform -- until yesterday.
Mrs. E woke up yesterday with a migraine, the likes of which she had never encountered. A chronic migraine sufferer, Mrs. E was purging herself all morning and early afternoon. And when there was nothing left to purge, but the nausea remained, she decided to seek medical attention. We hopped in a cab and drove the twenty some odd blocks to St. Luke's Roosevelt Emergency room just south of Columbia University.
I can't say that anything really went wrong. But nothing was exactly right either. The doctor was pleasant, but we must have seen five different nurses in the two hours we were there and they all asked the same questions. It seems that had one nurse been on the case the entire time we wouldn't have had to repeat ourselves. And then there is the waiting...and waiting...and waiting. When people are in a hospital/emergency room/doctor's office, the last thing they want to do is wait. Even if there is nothing to report, somebody should come in and say, "hey, there's nothing to report."
Upon our arrival in the room we were asked if, since blood was being drawn anyway, we wanted a free HIV test. We agreed and were told before we left that Mrs. E is HIV-negative -- no surprise there. But we were given no other results from that blood. It was as if they tricked us into an HIV test -- even though we are married and have both been tested already. A urine sample was also taken, though no results were given from those analyses either.
The medication they gave Mrs. E had varying effects -- from none to slight. Finally she felt well enough to go home. We were sent home with two prescriptions. I went to the pharmacy this morning only to find out that one of them was filled out incorrectly. The doctor forgot to include the dosage!
All I can say is if this were a life-threatening situation I wouldn't feel too comfortable. I'm not sure this was a completely negative experience since I have had almost no contact with emergency rooms in my life I have almost no basis for comparison. But whether or not this was above or below the average emergency room experience I see need for improvement.
So here's to Judy!
Mrs. E woke up yesterday with a migraine, the likes of which she had never encountered. A chronic migraine sufferer, Mrs. E was purging herself all morning and early afternoon. And when there was nothing left to purge, but the nausea remained, she decided to seek medical attention. We hopped in a cab and drove the twenty some odd blocks to St. Luke's Roosevelt Emergency room just south of Columbia University.
I can't say that anything really went wrong. But nothing was exactly right either. The doctor was pleasant, but we must have seen five different nurses in the two hours we were there and they all asked the same questions. It seems that had one nurse been on the case the entire time we wouldn't have had to repeat ourselves. And then there is the waiting...and waiting...and waiting. When people are in a hospital/emergency room/doctor's office, the last thing they want to do is wait. Even if there is nothing to report, somebody should come in and say, "hey, there's nothing to report."
Upon our arrival in the room we were asked if, since blood was being drawn anyway, we wanted a free HIV test. We agreed and were told before we left that Mrs. E is HIV-negative -- no surprise there. But we were given no other results from that blood. It was as if they tricked us into an HIV test -- even though we are married and have both been tested already. A urine sample was also taken, though no results were given from those analyses either.
The medication they gave Mrs. E had varying effects -- from none to slight. Finally she felt well enough to go home. We were sent home with two prescriptions. I went to the pharmacy this morning only to find out that one of them was filled out incorrectly. The doctor forgot to include the dosage!
All I can say is if this were a life-threatening situation I wouldn't feel too comfortable. I'm not sure this was a completely negative experience since I have had almost no contact with emergency rooms in my life I have almost no basis for comparison. But whether or not this was above or below the average emergency room experience I see need for improvement.
So here's to Judy!
Labels: Government
posted by gwheathie | 7:00 PM
1 Comments:
You draw an interesting conclusion from your experience. I don't see the connection between this and health care reform. I think of hcr as finding a way to get more people on the health care system. Other problems that always crop up are the nursing shortage (due in part to salaries that are too low) and the very long hours of doctors.
Also problematic is the fact that everything is done on paper and not in electronic files. I JUST read somewhere that the VA has everything recorded electronicly and out of the 1.1 million patients who lost *all* their medical information in Hurricane Katrina's aftermath, none of them were Vets.
I've found that ERs can be a little nightmarish, especially if there are a lot of people. Triage can be a bitch. Don't know if you remember when Ace broke his arm. You weren't at the hospital with us but we had to wait at least five hours before he could get seen because people kept coming in with more serious problems. Heart attacks, concussions, etc. So what I'm saying is that I think the waiting is normal. I've had it in CA, MA and here in NY.
I don't understand the whole HIV test thing. That sounds wonky.
That medication thing happens ALL THE TIME. There was this one time that I was hospitalized for almost a week. The day I got out was a Sunday, so there were not a lot of people around (try to get sick on a week day if at all possible). It took hours (literally) to get the medical clearance to leave. Finally, the nurse said I could go and handed me a sheaf of prescriptions. I looked them over. Levbid - okay, the doctor said that's an anti-spasmodic that stops intestinal spasms. Asacol; what did the doctor say that was for? Oh yeah, a really strongly coated anti-inflammatory that doesn't dissolve until it gets past the stomach. Prilosec (this was before it was OTC) - he promised that would help with the pain. Oh, a fourth one? Flexerol. Flexerol?? What the hell? Didn't I take this when my back went out? That can't be right. I asked the nurse and she said that is what the doctor gave her, so I asked what it was for. She said she didn't know so I asked if she could find out. She said she would have to find a doctor. Fifty five minutes later, a doctor came to tell me that my doctor had gone home and that she didn't know what the Flexerol was for and that I didn't have to take it if I didn't want to. Ridiculous. I pretty much always check prescriptions now.
In any case (and every case) what is generally recommended is exactly what you did: the sick person should bring a health advocate with her to the hospital. This person has a clear head and is presumably not in pain. The health advocate can take notes, ask pertinent questions, and make sure everyone washes his or her hands before touching said patient. (You'd be surprised how many professional people don't do that.)
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