Medicine Has Become the Great Patient Handoff— Patients pay the price for our fragmented healthcare system, by Kathleen A. Hallinan, MD, MPH

[cujoe]

Does any of this MedPage Today commentary by Dr. Hallinan resonate with any of you PCa patients? I'm actually old enough to remember when medical care was as she describes.

medpagetoday.com/opinion/se...

Are we better off today? Technically speaking, probably yes. From a humanistic QOL point of view, not very likely. It's actually up to us patients to push for change.

While doing that - Keep Being Safe & Staying Well,

Captain K9

PS Be sure to take the time to also read the comments from other medical providers.

[Magnus1964]

This began back in the '70 when the social scientists realized that the baby boomers were a generation that would move longitudinally through society and as they got older they would need more and more healthcare. That is when Wall Street started buying up hospitals and other medical facilities.. We went from a society of hospitals owed be communities and religious organizations (i.e., community supported hospitals and predominantly Catholic hospitals) to corporate owned hospitals where profits were the only concern.

Wall Street has destroyed our health care system and we have allowed the government to pass more and more laws to give them more and more control. This is how the price of medicine got out of control. Don't get me started on the greed of the drug industry.

[cesces in reply to Magnus1964]

This is a political problem.

Wall Street merely responded rationally to the rules our elected representatives have enacted.

This includes how ridiculously cheap that have made it to purchase votes, congressman, and actually entire political parties.

We are all getting the healthcare that approximately 2/3 or more of old male prostate cancer patients vote for.

As we slip into a venezuelan style election and autocratic kleptocracy in 2024, this will get worse.

Hang on for a ride to the bottom.

[Magnus1964 in reply to cesces]

Government, Wall Street, what's the difference. Healthcare is a right not a privilege. ...life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. If I don't have health care, I don't have life.

[cesces in reply to Magnus1964]

"what's the difference"

Thanks for your question. Permit me to answer it.

When, demographically, most prostate cancer patients vote for pols that believe the right to healthcare and the right to vote, are privileges to be reserved only for the deserving...

... it becomes a choice.

Not something that others do to us, but something we are doing to ourselves.

I hesitate to call it a conscious choice, as it seems so much of this appears to be driven by hate and fear of others... and an apparent willing suspension of understanding of simple cause and effect.

But it is a choice nonetheless.

PS: Folks, given your average age and sex I understand most of you disagree with these simple facts, but please keep your simmering rage under control and keep your differing views civil.

[Magnus1964 in reply to cesces]

I'm not sure I even understand your post but it does not address the basic idea that society, particularly supposedly democratic ones, are created for the benefit of it's members. As I said health care is a right not a privilege, and this society is not providing that right.

[cesces in reply to Magnus1964]

"I'm not sure I even understand your post"

Let my try again:

Cranky old men

(a) get prostate cancer

(b) reliably vote for politicians who believe in disenfranchising undeserving voters, withholding healthcare from undeserving demographics, monetizing their offices

These politicians vigorously seek to reduce access to healthcare for everyone, including the cranky old men.

And in a virtuous circle, the worse it gets, the more adamant these cranky old men vote for these same pols, and support policies that prevent others from voting who might vote otherwise.

Basically, we are getting the healthcare that only these clueless cranky old men deserve.

"We have met the enemy, and he is us."

You want to fix the problem, start campaigning for pols who will at least pretend it's important. Generally that will not be pols that support those marching the bars and stars through the federal capital, or those of similar ilk.

The solution is in your hands.

[Cramlingtonboy]

Have you seen Russell Brand's take on the health care system?youtube.com/watch?v=DNXQ2pA...(Not working as expected?)

[cujoe in reply to Cramlingtonboy]

Brilliant! In the spirit of the great George Carlin.

Until we get:

1. A legitimate 3rd Party

2. 100% public financing of elections

3. Term & AGE limits

We are doomed to the status quo that the current system supports.

[Magnus1964 in reply to Cramlingtonboy]

Five Stars. This is the kind of reporting we need in America.

[NPfisherman]

K9 Terror,

Thanks for posting... Healthcare has changed and not for the better. Now, with the drain/ strain from CoVid, many older healthcare employees are choosing retirement over continuation. Things will get a whole lot worse and soon...

Fish

[NPfisherman]

Hey Captain K9,

One of the other things that has changed the doctor-patient interaction is the paperwork burden. In earlier days, you would have the MD sit across from you, look you in the eyes, and talk, Nowadays, the MD is parked behind a computer screen typing, and one must wonder if indeed, the issues are totally being addressed. The patient-provider relationship is blocked by the computer parked between the patient and MD...

Also, with the nursing shortage, recruiters go to other countries to recruit the best of their nurses, so what does that do for the people of those countries.

Just some more thoughts....

Fish

[cujoe in reply to NPfisherman]

NP,

You know 1st-hand the many issues that need to be addressed in our "most-expensive-in-the-world" health care system. This earlier MedPage Today article shines a light on one of the downstream impacts of electronic records. (BTW, my online records are riddled with all sorts of historical errors and inaccuracies - in spite of me providing a detailed written "Patient Update" at every visit since my 1st cancer diagnosis 15 years ago.)

Open Notes Shines Light on Errors in Patient Medical Records - Will the new rule lead to a flood of correction requests? - by Cheryl Clark, Contributing Writer, MedPage Today, September 14, 2021

medpagetoday.com/special-re...

Hope you are feeling better. Get/Stay Well. Paz, K9

[NPfisherman in reply to cujoe]

K9 Terror,

I have seen too many errors as a result of mindless cutting and pasting without review of the records. I found out that I had PCa when I was admitted to the hospital for E. coli sepsis post prostate biopsy. The Urologist used cipro prophylaxis before and after the biopsy which E. Coli resistant to cipro was well known and the AUA was advising against using cipro. I was in the hospital for 3 days and my biopsy and diagnosis just happened to be in my discharge paperwork. Imagine my surprise. That was 4 years ago. In the process, I got diagnosed with rectal cancer despite having no history. I suspect someone added it by mistake and no one could figure out how to remove it despite my request to straighten out the records.

Fish

[cujoe]

Butt, butt, butt, Señor Pescado . . . we are sure you must have rectal cancer. Your paperwork says so!

[NPfisherman in reply to cujoe]

BWAHAHAHA... Indeed, you have a grasp of the hole problem... ( o )... You would not believe how many people I had to talk to to resolve my nonexistent cancer... On top of it all, my Urologist knew my biopsy result, but decided he would go on vacation for a week before calling me... I guess his caring was focused on enjoying the vacation...

Fish

[cujoe in reply to NPfisherman]

Contrast that with Sartor calling DougNOLA on the weekend (from overseas, no less) when we were in NOLA to give him his lab result. It seems to prove that there are some exceptional docs out there. The challenge is in finding them.