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Message 1101 of 5998

I had a personal experience today that to me is an example of why some people have reservations about increasing the role of the federal government in the delivery of healthcare. My 90 year oldfather was driven by my brother-in-law ninety miles to the VA facility to get hearing aids they were supposed to be getting for him. He arrived for his appointment and there were no hearing aids. They said "you never had us perform the hearing test required. You just brought us a test from your private doctor." To which my Dad said "You are correct - I did bring you a test from my doctor eight weeks ago when I was driven the 180 mile roundtrip up here from my home. You told me I had to have run the test despite a perfectly good test from my physician. But you could not do it for three weeks. So I had my son-in law drive me back here, another 180 mile round trip, three weeks later after my initial apointment and had you perform the test. So you should have the results of a second test that was never really required to begin with". The person helping my Dad apparently looked as if they needed help themselves. After almost 45 minutes of looking, they concluded they had lost the results of my Dad's test and another test would have to be performed. of course it could not be done today. So in three weeks, another 180 mile round trip for a third hearing test willhave to be made - that being the second unnecessary test. That will then be followed by a fourth 180 mile round trip tp pick up the hearing aids in eight weeks . That of course assumes they don't lose the results of the next test.

Small wonder that with such incompetence, which many see as rampant in every government system, there ar epeople who are concerned about an overhaul of healthcare by the government. Which is why I think many people believe that healthcare reform should be done incrementally with things like regulations which increase competition between insurance companies and a few other well directed changes. I have no doubt that the supporters of larger change have their hearts in the right place - they just don't have an administrating organization with a track record of delivering anything in a cost effect manner to conbvince a lot of people that they can achieve their goals.

I am interested in what others here think, particularly with respect to what my Father experienced. Do you think it is representative of a broken system or it was just an anomaly?

posted by MrNoParty

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Having dealt with government weenies all of my working career, I can generalize that in my experience they are motivated only by covering their own rumps and hiding behind paperwork. There seems to no motivation for increasing efficiency or productivity - their idea of cost control is to blame the contractor when they go over budget because of the unnecessary and useless work that they insist has to be done. The government can't run industries and can only botch up the health care system more than it is. I could tell you similar stories about the VA and their quality of care, but there are probably a number of people who have had good experiences - at least I hope so.

posted by mejk
over 2 years ago

Broken system? Yes.

Had a friend today went thru similar stuff and asked why. My answer:

"Is it the government?", I asked
She said; "yes"
I said, "they're governing."

Sadly our "doctoring" is now "managed" or "governed".

posted by MisterScience
over 2 years ago

I'm afraid I don't have any experience dealing with the VA or any other kind of government paid health care, so I wouldn't want to guess if this is a standard procedure.

With my employer paid health care, however, I informed the MD's office that the prescription should be called in to the CVS on W. Avenue. I found it at Walgreen's on E. Avenue. Much simpler and not nearly so annoying or expensive or exasperating as what you and your father went through, I know. But it doesn't take the government to screw it up.

posted by Lollykoko
over 2 years ago

Any explanation offered to you as to why the mix-up? Or did they have a blank stare like "the lights were on but bobody was home" that my father and brother-in-law encountered at the VA?

posted by MrNoParty
over 2 years ago

I'm guessing the error lay at the MD's office. I left a message with the front desk since Dr.'s nurse was too busy to answer the phone. At least the prescription was the right one.

posted by Lollykoko
over 2 years ago

If you really want to see how complicated the government can make health care, try reading through the Medicare drug prescription plan and make sense from it. Needlessly complicated and convoluted. The funny part is the people at Medicare don't understand it either.

posted by mejk
over 2 years ago

Of course not...it was written by lawyers. Who can understand what lawyers say other than other lawyers. That is why it is generally admitted that the members of both parties in the House and Senate have little clue as to what the current legislation before them says. Multiply that by the fact that the devil is in the details and it is the unintended consequences that always bites people in the posterior, and you have the potential for a real fiasco.

That is why I would prefer a few key steps be identified and corrected and then wait a few years to see how those changes are working. Then fine tune those changes and implement a few more. President Obama is fond of pointing out that we have been trying to fix healthcare for 60 years and done almost nothing. One reason that may be the case is that those that have tried to fix it have always proposed major changes as the current congress is doing. Why not try a different approach which defines the top 2-3 issues and correct those, measure the success of what has been done, ad then move forward again. I am reluctant to believe that if it took us all this time to get in this mess, we can get out with one swift legislative overhaul. What is likely to happen is simply a new set of different problems.

posted by MrNoParty
over 2 years ago

You've got me beat on the hearing aid debacle, it took me three trips with my 77 y.o mother-in-law, with a private doctor. I've had private doctors lose lab results, not show up for appointments because they decided to spend all day with their dog at the veterinarian(without calling to cancel appointments), doctors move their office and not notify people, totally screwed up billing between doctors offices and insurance companies, misdiagnoses from the doctor, wrong prescriptions called in by doctors offices, and like Lollykoko, to the wrong pharmacies. I'm guessing that probably everything that goes wrong in VA hospitals also goes wrong in the private sector, except we get the privilege of paying for it. We also stand a good risk of getting some sort of infection if we have a surgery or invasive procedure, because being in the business to make money, they don't spend alot of time between surgeries cleaning up the places, and try to operate with minimal staff. In the last 4-5 years, I lost two friends from gall bladder surgery, and one work mate from orthoscopic knee surgery. I really don't think the level of competence is that much greater in the private sector. I'm glad I have a good, competent, caring internist as my primary care doctor, but I went through a few bozo's in the process of finding him. He is from India, and has a little better work ethic than most of the doctors I've ever had.

posted by fireguy51
over 2 years ago

It sounds like it could have been "human error" involving a private institution. Involve the government (the worst productivity for the dollar), and it could become an intentional "misplacing" of the records. Private business tends to weed out incompetence if not controlled by government. Incompetence breeds in government with small minded people suddenly in a position of "power".

posted by rickydale
over 2 years ago

I've got stories about private health care mix ups, delays,etc and have news articles of private hospitals and doctors that have screwed up with fatal results. It's not just the government run agencies that screw up. For those that have no insurance, government provided insurance looks awfully good. What is being legislated expands the current private system and is not "government run".