7 Quick Takes Friday: Where I Talk About Healthcare

 

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Some of you may know that I work in healthcare. Lately, I have been a little stressed out about the MANY government regulations and incentive programs that I will have to lead our organization in implementing this year. It really is overwhelming, but I had the opportunity to go to a conference last week with other practice managers and was lucky to have met some great people. We have been in contact and I look forward to future networking with them. For support and advice and just plain to vent to people who know what I am talking about. It relieved some of my stresses, but the fact is that all the work still needs to be done.

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Do me a favor, when you visit your doctor, keep in mind that all they really want to do is take care of you and your families. I know the perception is that doctors just want to make a buck, but in my experience, they have worked really hard to gain the skills needed to provider good quality care. At one time, they were rewarded for their hard work with great incomes like a lot of other professionals are. That has changed. I’m not saying doctors don’t make good money, but the reality is that the government has put so many requirements and regulations and programs into place that they have to participate in or their payments get cut. It has actually made it really difficult for them to focus on patient care when they are trying to remember if they selected the correct code, if they checked the right box in the electronic medical record or if they made sure to ask you what language you prefer and for God’s sake do not forget to send that prescription electronically, lest it count against them. Don’t get me wrong I think having programs that do look out for patient care and the quality of the care they are getting is important. But the enormity of and the amount of regulations and programs is just a bit overwhelming.

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There is a blog I read called Kevin MD. Dr. Kevin posts many blog posts that he writes, but also many guest posts by other physicians. Every now and then I find one that captures my attention. There are some really great, caring, and compassionate physicians out there. I thought I would share a couple recent posts that I liked.

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This first one is titled “The greatest miracle a physician is privileged to be a part of”. It is a beautiful story of how “A Country Doctor” is reminded of the miracle of pregnancy and child birth. I hope you enjoy it.

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This second one is post by a physician who began to understand what it is like for patients when they are faced with medical issues. She sees that there so much confusion and uncertainty in the middle of life changing illnesses. It humbled her and she has dedicated her blog to helping people understand how hospitals work, and what can be done for a better patient experience by everyone in healthcare. It is titled "Recognize the blessings that you previous overlooked".  The author blogs at "In White Ink".

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This one is really good and accurately reflects what we see every day at our practices. I have read other posts by Dr. Rob Lamberts before, he is an interesting guy. He blogs at "Musings of a Distractible Mind". Anyway, this post is about empathy and how he recognized how patients react and describe pain based on how they have been treated before.

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It wasn’t my intention to do a whole 7 takes on healthcare, but I might as well finish it off since I’m at #7. I am certainly not a politician, and I won’t pretend to know much of the ins and outs of the Affordable Care Act (AKA: Obamacare), but what I do know is that the simple fact that all people deserve healthcare, is not solved by the creation of health insurance programs. Having health insurance and getting healthcare are two completely different things. I’m not a fan.

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