Insane Memo Toxic Workplace

Got this in a email from a medical topic aggregate newsletter. I wasn't shocked but it's nice someone coughed up proof.


This came from a actual recent meeting in a hospital the Doc who posted it in a private FB Group for Doc's it was OK'd for sharing. The Doc who was in the meeting has resigned. Not due to making it public either. From the patient side I have known for decades unnecessary tests were being pushed. Nice try, I've also been telling my Internist "ONE TEST Pick the one that'll give you the most info" for decades. At worst if I get blowback I'll get whatever other tests as long as he's paying for them. Believe it or not they can diagnose (guess cough...cough) most things with one test. It's just than no oe ever makes them do it.

Here's the whole article.
www.kevinmd.com...

I thought everyone was aware this was going on. I knew doctors and other professionals here and they stated this was part of their normal policy here at our hospitals.

The hospitals here have high overhead is what they said, and they need money to pay all the people to run the services and to pay for the expensive testing equipment. This was going on even before Dukes took over and it did not change when they took over. I guess it is common practice in lots of areas now.

I do understand that they need income to keep the hospitals going and pay all the workers, I just don't agree with this whole philosophy. I would rather have socialized medicine....this kind of stuff would not be happening nearly as much if we did.

The worst thing is they send a person for a test that is not actually relevant then another appointment and another test again. If you are lucky the second test is rightly chosen. They can say they needed evidence to make the diagnosis...so they put an inconclusive test first to discount something and then schedule another test for the right diagnosis. It means you are sick longer before treatment...that is what Irks me. I remember twenty years ago the doctor would diagnose you and prescribe meds and you got well quickly...with no test but with experience they had. If they did prescribe a test, it was necessary like a cat scan or MRI with broad scanning. Now they just scan and focus on a small part, then they schedule a scan of a different organ. Now they could scan all areas in one scan and find out what the problem was instead of narrowing the picture or the reading of the scan to a small area. They used to look at the whole area.

My wife just went to the ER and they ran a cat scan, a MRI, and an ultrasound on her plus they followed up with another MRI of a different area in the local proximity. Our insurance covered most of this, but the thing is the insurance paid a lot of money which causes raises in premiums for the whole insured group...so costs of Insurances are increasing for everyone because this is common all over the place. And in our case, it raises medicare payments too. Medicare and our insurance use rates based on negotiated prices...so hospitals do not get nearly what they bill unless the test is not medicare approved...then you are responsible for the high cost bill...so beware and pay attention.

Now they put the wife on a alpha blocker at the ER for her symptoms when they found her BP really high and some other symptoms....they would not have needed the ten grand worth of tests to do that and all those tests came out all right. The fact that she was eating all kinds of sweets and junk food for nine days before her event is what caused the thing we figure...darn Christmas cookies and parties. We usually eat eighty percent healthy diet with little junk food which is why she has not been on many meds and the doses of the ones she was on are low. Now the new pill is good, especially since she goes out more with her older friends and eats in restaurants more. coffee and bakery quite often. Well she is seventy one, I am not going to say anything, we also need social interaction. When summer comes they meet out at the park and bring their own lunch instead of meeting at border grill or another restaurant in town for lunch or desert or should I say and desert.

Like I said, I analyze everything and understand why hospitals make doctors do tests that are not really needed. I understand it but don't agree it is a good thing. But if they do not have enough income, we won't have a hospital...that is not good either.

What the thread is about is not a secret among those like doctors or specialists, they have quotas to help protect the hospitals and to keep their paycheck coming in. No Hospital, no doctors, no nurses, no anestheologists, no therapists, no MRI,CAT, or X-Ray technicians jobs. Not even any janitors or food service people.

When Nixon changed the law that stipulated hospitals couldn't be run 'for profit' it set the stage. Of course greed would become a problem with hospitals! The whole medical field has become a Big Business model.
Soon, they only jobs that can provide a decent quality of life will be in government or the medical field.Actually, government has already co-opted the medical field with Medicaid and Medicare, plus the insurance industry.

They have to break things that were working before they can fix then, but the fix is always twelve steps backwards.

a reply to: nugget1

Well that and how exorbitantly expensive college is for doctors. Wow. My cousin is 200k in the hole for that. Of course "its worth it" but good golly when he casually brought that up "im 220k in student loans" I just about had a heart attack and its not my money!

The Doc's and all medical staff are getting squeezed from both ends. Low insurance payments by providers & Boards of Directors needing to make a profit.

@ RickyMouse - I'm not a know-it-all but after wrangling with medical care for my late hubby I found your Insurance provider can really help with those alleged narrow bandwidth tests & extra tests. Hubby had 8 specialists, medical files pretty much all over the eastern US an my patience ran out.

I called up my provider an told them I was more fed up with redundant unnecessary tests cause even tho the INS Company paid & it wasn't my money I was pissed beyond belief at "the racketeering". They were happy to make a few calls to Doctor's Practices and the larger Org's they were umbrella'd under. We got "kid-gloved after that" an I continued to alert my provider to charges for services that Hubby didn't receive on Every. Single.Bill.

Also had to play gatekeeper at the door cause the other racket is sending in Interns who charge/bill as the Doctor they're under when we never asked OR agreed to their services. Hubby had ONE PCP, EIGHT Specialists. He needed more Doc's like I need another donut. Keeping costs down to just appropriate medical care was a full time job.

For 4yrs I practically lived at the Hospital, for 3 was working full time taking care of home & 3 dogs. Becoming the "Medical Police" was my second career. (unwanted but no choice) His Doctor's were actually great about me "sticking it" to the hospital beancounters an my old Insurance provider misses me. The Provider was VERY clear they wished more people would do this. Insurance Providers do more than just willy-nilly deny services. You're their customer an they are a great resource to help you. You just have to ask.

originally posted by: Shoshanna
a reply to: nugget1

Well that and how exorbitantly expensive college is for doctors. Wow. My cousin is 200k in the hole for that. Of course "it’s worth it" but good golly when he casually brought that up "im 220k in student loans" I just about had a heart attack and it’s not my money!

One should probably not have a school debt larger that what the degree or certificate will get you paid for a year’s salary. I hope your cousin has a high end law or engineering or medical degree that makes him 200 K or more.
You can get a vocational certification in welding for 5 or 6 thousand, and make 6 figures. Probably the best deal going. But machinists, electricians, plumbers, HVAC guys, have a similar great payback.

a reply to: Caver78

Shoot, a CPAP machine is about the worst scam going.

They call you endlessly trying to get you to replace every last part and accessory on the thing, monthly.

When it probably needs it maybe once a year.

They’ll call you about every damn day if you ignore them.

originally posted by: Shoshanna
a reply to: nugget1

Well that and how exorbitantly expensive college is for doctors. Wow. My cousin is 200k in the hole for that. Of course "its worth it" but good golly when he casually brought that up "im 220k in student loans" I just about had a heart attack and its not my money!

Taht seems like a lot of money until you consider the average doctor in the US makes $350,000 a year. Salaries in the medical field and government jobs keep increasing while the working class have either seen their jobs eliminated or been forced to take pay cuts.

My grandson got his Phd in physics; not an overly high-paying field, but his first job after graduation (at age 29) was with Google for %600,00+ per year with a $60,000 sign-on bonus. Two years later and he's making nearly one million per annum.
Rather than take one year to pay off student loans he bought a 2 million dollar house. Interest on student loans is minimal, so it made the most financial sense.

Your cousin will see far greater and life-long returns on his student loan money than if he'd have invested that $220,000 in real estate.

Bkue collar workers fear debt, while white collar workers embrace debt and use it to their advantage.