Modern Healthcare (Don't PARF this)

[aap1966]

Let me tell you about hospitals.
We try our best to diagnose you, using the skills, knowledge and equipment we have available.
Then we do our best to cure you, or at least improve things, again with the skills, knowledge and equipment we have.
But sometimes you don’t make it easy, and sometimes you make it really hard.
If you are so big that we need the special hoist to reposition you, you’re going to wait longer to be repositioned.
If you have so much subcutaneous adipose (fat) tissue that you last had a palpable vein during the Reagan administration, you’re going to suffer more failed cannulation attempts.
If you’re simply too fat to fit into our CT machine, well, you’re not going to get a CT.
And if the ultrasound gear is not powerful enough to penetrate your abdominal fat, then the abdo ultrasound’s not looking good either.
So, we will do our best to look after you, and we won’t “judge” you. But next time you abuse a nurse because they’re slow turning you, or feeding you, or getting you out of bed, how about a pause for thought.
If you, or your relative, exceed the combined weight of the doctor, nurse, and physical therapist standing by your bed, or are even just twice the weight of the 6 foot tall, ex-Rugby playing doctor treating you, realise that we’re doing our best, but maybe the complications you experience are not all some-one else’s fault.


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[Nathans_Dad]

Amen! Preach on brother!

[recycled sixtie]

My daughter has just passed her Candidacy exam for her Phd in the medical faculty. Her main field of study is childhood obesity. Anybody that has to work with overweight patients has my sympathy and hopefully my daughter's studies will help reduce this problem in the future.
Guy.

[Brando]

Moral of the story: Go to a vet if you're fat.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Long day at the office?

[Baz]

Originally Posted by Brando

Moral of the story: Go to a vet if you're fat.

Ha! Good one, Brando.

[Chocaholic]

Hard to sell a CT or MR these days if table capacity is under 600lbs. More and more hospitals buying oncology CT's for general imaging because the bore is 80cm+.

Reeses Cup anyone?

[dos531]

[cantdrv55]

Are reimbursements tied to patient experience in Australia? They are here.

[Tobra]

If I had a dollar for every time I treated a fat person complaining of foot pain, I would be asleep on a beach under a big umbrella right now. I had some fat tub of goo on public assistance that I had to do an amputation on in the office one time, complaining about how expensive healthcare was, doctors get paid so much, blah blah. My wife was working in the office that day, patient had about 300 pounds on her, and she asked how much they thought the doctor got paid for doing their surgery. They think a thousand dollars. No, if you had Medicare he would have gotten $150 for the surgery and that includes 90 days of follow up. Since you are on Medi Cal, he did it for free, which includes all of the follow up for as long as it takes for you to heal.

[Don Ro]

We can witness this kind of defensive justification BS in all walks of life from personal relationships to politicians and world "leaders'.
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Originally Posted by dos531

[aap1966]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Long day at the office?

Yep.

[BE911SC]

Wanna' piss people off? Tell them that you support socialized medicine but would exclude smokers and obese people. Only healthy people would qualify for free healthcare and the less healthy you are (through your own behavior) the more you have to pay into the system for care.

Actually, the food industry would prevent any such thing. You have a right to eat poorly (and smoke) and they have a right to sell you junk food (and cigarettes). Yeah, there's way too much profit in killing people for us to stop killing people. That's not fat and that's not lung cancer, that's "freedom."

Nevermind.

[Tervuren]

Sorry, but our govenrment regulation and our healthcare system are so related, that our health care is now political. Belong in PARF.

The root cause of the problem is a lack of understanding of personal responsibility, an issue that is tied to spirituality, policy(politics), and religion.

[Don Ro]

Originally Posted by Tervuren

Sorry, but our govenrment regulation and our healthcare system are so related, that our health care is now political.

Yep!
Present healthcare system is all about control and wealth re-distribution.
Not at all about giving responsible care to the afflicted.

[aap1966]

Are reimbursements tied to patient experience in Australia? They are here.

No, but the $$ the hospital gets is standardized for the diagnosis/ procedure.
For example, a cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal) generates the same payment if it's an uncomplicated procedure with discharge Day 2 post-op as it does for a procedure complicated by wound infection and respiratory failure with discharge a week later. As obese patients have greater complications across the board, they consume more resources (I suppose they're good at that) while generating no more $$.

[KNS]

My wife (now a nurse practitioner) used to work as a nurse in the ICU. She wrecked her back trying to move obese patients around. She asked for help when able but due to staffing cuts she was on her own.

[intakexhaust]

Originally Posted by BE911SC

Wanna' piss people off? Tell them that you support socialized medicine but would exclude smokers and obese people. Only healthy people would qualify for free healthcare and the less healthy you are (through your own behavior) the more you have to pay into the system for care.

Actually, the food industry would prevent any such thing. You have a right to eat poorly (and smoke) and they have a right to sell you junk food (and cigarettes). Yeah, there's way too much profit in killing people for us to stop killing people. That's not fat and that's not lung cancer, that's "freedom."

Nevermind.

Today, the food industry has similarities to a drug pusher on the street. People crave the unnecessary induced sugar and chemicals, eventually leading to health deterioration or death.

Food producer lobbyist steer the herds. The gov. thinks a fix is just to educate the people on HOW to get fit. You go Misses O'Barry! Whacked-

[Por_sha911]

Originally Posted by aap1966

No, but the $$ the hospital gets is standardized for the diagnosis/ procedure.

You're joking, right? Let me tell you about my hospital visit years ago.
Around 35-40 yrs old. Healthy weight and lifestyle. BMI of ~21, non smoker, non drinker, no drugs. Great BP and respiratory rate.

I get a rash all over my body and its after hours so I go to the ER. They say "no idea why it is and give me a shot and steroid dose pack and I'm home in less than an half hour after being seen (I won't comment on the wait to be seen).

I have no insurance so when the bill comes it is outrageous. I call to question it. They say that the basic charge is based on a points system and the more that you have done the more points... OK fine except, IIRC the highest level is 5 or 6. I ask them to explain the points:
I had 3 points for filling out the paperwork, having my BP, temp and weight checked and being asked "what's your problem?"! One more point for the nurse giving me a simple shot in the hip and a paper script for the dose pack.

Talk about a scam! No one can get out for less than 4 points. Most people don't question it and either 1) have insurance, 2) pay the bill or 3) stiff the place.

No wonder healthcare insurance premiums keep going up.

[Por_sha911]

Originally Posted by BE911SC

Wanna' piss people off? Tell them that you support socialized medicine but would exclude smokers and obese people. Only healthy people would qualify for free healthcare and the less healthy you are (through your own behavior) the more you have to pay into the system for care.

This. Remember the guy that sued fast food places because he ate there all the time and they made him fat. Really? REALLY?