Doctor rant...can I please please????

farmgirl19 · Mar 19, 2014

Travelover said:
I have a lot of respect for doctors and sympathize with their issues, but as a business, medicine is still basically run like it is 1960. Too many paper records, physicians doing what a physician's assistant or a nurse practitioner could do, totally inefficient scheduling process, payment for services rendered not on overall outcome, zero transparency in pricing....... on and on to the tune of $8000 per person per year.

Funny. If you take a vehicle to the shop for an engine miss, and they tell you it is the plugs, and you authorize them to change the plugs, but the miss is still there, so they also want to now change the wires, they do not refund the money for changing the plugs. Mechanic and shop charge for services rendered too, not overall outcome.

The medical field does not make $8000 off of me. The day may come, but I don't spend 1/10 of that a year now.

MossRoad · Mar 19, 2014

farmgirl19 said:
Funny. If you take a vehicle to the shop for an engine miss, and they tell you it is the plugs, and you authorize them to change the plugs, but the miss is still there, so they also want to now change the wires, they do not refund the money for changing the plugs. Mechanic and shop charge for services rendered too, not overall outcome.

The medical field does not make $8000 off of me. The day may come, but I don't spend 1/10 of that a year now.

Consider yourself lucky. While I and my children are quite healthy (knock on wood), I know several folks who have children with birth defects, adults that are chronically ill, and some with just plain bad luck. Its tragic, and there's no rhyme or reason for many of their circumstances, but bad things happen to good people.

rekees4300 · Mar 19, 2014

Stuff happens but most health problems are self inflicted, caused by poor diet and lack of exercise (like posting on TBN).

MotorSeven · Mar 19, 2014

MosRoad.........Negative, the "family Dr" is a clinic in a small town. After decades of riding motorcycles, building fences and decks as a second job, wrassling around with the occasional bad guy, I knew my elbow is going to require surgery. As stated, once I have a surgery I will incur around $20-25K in amount billed to my insurance company, so I will be well over my deductible. By skipping the family Dr, all I did was save the insurance company some $ and myself some time. I went straight to an Orthopedic Center for my initial evaluation and they ordered the MRI, saw all the damage and farmed me out to a elbow specialist, which seemed to me to be SOP. The specialist is bringing in the second surgeon(to be done during the same operation), but that Dr wanted the nerve study before getting out the scalpel...again I'm pretty sure it's SOP. The only way I could have saved an appointment was if the initial place would have taken me on, but I even appreciate a Dr that say's..."Your elbow is a wreck and I'm going to send you to a Dr that is better qualified than I am." Up to Dr #4 I was ok with the progression of examinations, and y'all are right, under the current "rules" #4 probably could not have ordered a blood test on the spot, but she should have explained that to me. I don't think that's asking too much and although I posted a "rant" I truly am laughing about the whole silly scenario:laughing:..See...laughter is the best medicine...and Beer:laughing:

300UGUY · Mar 19, 2014

With my insurance, the family doctor is the "gate keeper". I need a referral from her to see anybody. And I pretty much have to stay in the insurance network. Having said that, when I needed a specialist, they sent me to the best person in the state, based on independent ratings.

farmgirl19 · Mar 19, 2014

MossRoad said:
Consider yourself lucky.

Believe me, I do!

While I and my children are quite healthy (knock on wood), I know several folks who have children with birth defects, adults that are chronically ill, and some with just plain bad luck. Its tragic, and there's no rhyme or reason for many of their circumstances, but bad things happen to good people.

Yes, I am aware of that. A lot of our health is in our own hands, with diet, physical activity, avoiding crowds whenever possible, not using tobacco, etc., and one does have some responsibility in their own health, but some things are definitely beyond an individual's control. So, yes, overall, I have been very lucky, even with a few bumps/hurdles (character builders?) along the way.

MossRoad · Mar 19, 2014

MotorSeven said:
I even appreciate a Dr that say's..."Your elbow is a wreck and I'm going to send you to a Dr that is better qualified than I am."

Me too. My dentist told me I needed a root canal. He wanted to send me to a specialist. I asked if he could just do it. He said he could, if I wanted him to practice on me. YIKES! I appreciated that honesty and went to the specialist.

Ramses · Mar 19, 2014

As a physician and a specialist (Head and Neck surgeon) I often see people who have symptoms of illnesses that fall outside my specialty such as diabetes. I will often suggest that the patient follow up with their family doctor for further work-up and diagnosis for several reasons:

1. I am not aware of all of their medical history like the family doctor is. The patient may have already been tested and found to be negative. (You would think that most patients would know this information, but many do not).

2. I may not be aware of the best test to rule-in or rule-out a specific disorder outside of my specialty.

3. Since it is not in my specialty and was not the reason that they were referred to me, insurance companies may not cover the test, leaving the patient alone responsible for the cost. I spend a fair amount of my time on the phone with insurance companies justifying tests that I order for problems that fall within my specialty (CT scans, MRI's, etc.).

4. In your case, the test may have required a specific prep, such as fasting, making it more than a simple blood draw for diagnosis.

So as you can see, there are valid reasons for a specialist to refer you back to your family doctor for further testing. I try to do the best for my patients every day and just like a family doctor should not be performing a neck dissection or parotidectomy because they do not have the training, I should not be diagnosing and treating diabetes.

Travelover · Mar 19, 2014

farmgirl19 said:
Funny. If you take a vehicle to the shop for an engine miss, and they tell you it is the plugs, and you authorize them to change the plugs, but the miss is still there, so they also want to now change the wires, they do not refund the money for changing the plugs. Mechanic and shop charge for services rendered too, not overall outcome.

The medical field does not make $8000 off of me. The day may come, but I don't spend 1/10 of that a year now.

I don't think that you understand outcome based health care. It is more analogous to someone maintaining a fleet of vehicles over a period years. As a fleet owner, you want the lowest maintenance and repair cost per vehicle over the lifetime of the vehicle. Would you rather have the guy that changes the oil on a regular basis, nips problems in the bud and keeps an eye on developing problems, or the guy that just makes repairs as he sees fit and sends you the bill? It is all money paid to keep the fleet running, it is just a matter of how you want to dole it out.

Re annual costs, are you saying that you get health insurance for $800 a year? Where can I sign up for that?