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The Healthcare System is Messed Up
Why do doctors and institutions assume clients know where to go and what to do?
As a former healthcare provider, I think I can say that the healthcare system in the U.S. is messed up.
Earlier this week, I spent the morning taking my elderly Dad to doctor’s appointments. The first — to an eye specialist — was routine. The office is a well-oiled machine. He’s been going to this office for the last five years.
The second appointment was given to him by another specialist. He was told to be there at 1 pm for a test. He’s had the test before and knew he had to be there an hour before for the “prep.” He thought we needed to be there by noon.
We left the eye doctor’s office at 11:15 a.m. and got to the second appointment for “imagining” by noon. Once we checked in, my Dad was told he was an hour early.
He explained that he’d had this test before and knew he needed to be there an hour early. Yes, it was scheduled that way but the 1 pm time was not the hour of his test. That was 2 pm. So, they scheduled him to be an hour early. But, there was no communication about this when he received the appointment.
Some of the fallout of this is that we ate breakfast early — at 6: 30 am to 7:30 a.m. and would have had time to go home for lunch but instead went to the second appointment. Hungry.
My dad was a trooper during all this. But, I found myself in the position of advocating for him. That’s okay — I don’t mind. But, getting basic directions about the appointment should not be a reason one has to advocate.
The following scenario is a reason to advocate:
We repeatedly questioned the staff’s desire to put in an IV. He did not need one for this procedure. In addition, the absence of an available port would prevent them from giving him a contrast dye IV that he was not supposed to get.
Even after questioning this, they stated it was the radiologist’s discretion. No, it was not. There were medical reasons that he could not have the IV for contrast. We stood our ground.
They often used the word “specialist” referring to the radiologist. What the tech…
