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In an hour or so we are off to the hospital for Connie’s surgery. Frankly, I’m nervous. All surgery has some risk, but more so if you are 85. I asked the doctor to remember that while he sees an 85 year old patient, to me she is my 25 year old bride.
As if medical issues were not enough to stress you, the unbelievable paperwork, regulations, duplication of information is beyond frustrating. Medical offices can’t share info because of privacy rules. There is no coordination and each encounter means the same questions over and over.
Most of it is online, but it’s still duplication of effort, no sharing. I can’t remember how many times we have repeated Connie’s reaction to certain medications It’s just stupid and unnecessarily costly.
HINT: keep your own detailed records, request the CD for every scan, MRI, etc. note all dates of any treatment you ever had. Learn to use patient portals – remember, they don’t communicate with each other. WHY THE HECK isn’t their one portal for each of us? I know privacy. Nonsense.
The hospital sent a text outlining their cost for surgery today- $34,000. They showed what Medicare would pay and then applied a discount so the balance was $0. What are we supposed to do with this legally required info, start shopping for a better deal?
It boggles my mind that anyone can defend our current health care system and yet there are still people who call Medicare socialized medicine.
So glad to hear it went well. Best of luck going forward. I agree that laparoscopy is a great advance.
I just switched my PCP to the geriatric specialists running the clinic at my CCRC. (My PCP has been out for months on medical leave.) My records were on MyChart, and since both practices are part of the same university system they all transitioned with me. Some of my early encounters with medical care never made it into MyChart, I took a printed list to my initial appointment.
Keeping your own data is a good idea. More people need to be involved with their health care. I always go with Connie to serve as her advocate if needed and to ask questions she may not consider or want to ask.
Well, surgery was a success. Recovery is underway. The cancer hadn’t spread and no further treatment suggested, just ongoing monitoring. Being grateful is easy.
Fantastic news! Hope the healing process goes well.
Terrific news! So glad to hear this.
Wonderful. We had similar news from Sharon’s surgery a few years back. So glad to hear it.
Wonderful news. I’m sure you are relieved.
Great news Richard. Thanks for the update.
Fantastic news Dick. Best wishes to Connie on her recovery.
Dick, this is great news and best wishes for Connie’s speedy recovery.
The electronic data that is available through systems like MyChart is invaluable. My wife and I were caregivers to her Mom and brother in law. We constantly made sure the systems were up to date so that they could be used by the many doctors that were engaged in their care. But our major use of the systems was to advocate for them throughout hospital visits and regular appointments. We had the info in hand (Ipads are our tool of choice) to correct or reinforce decisions on meds and procedures. We found that many professionals had not read the info and had to be reminded.
Good luck to Connie!
Wishing Connie a speedy recovery.
Please know that when it comes to the Electronic Medical Record (EMR), the sharing of information is required by Medicare/Medicaid (CMS). Basically, CMS doesn’t pay if the bill doesn’t come through an EMR. Insurance companies followed and also require medical providers to bill via an EMR.
HIPAA stands for Health Information Portability and Accountability Act signed into law in 1996. It primarily had the objectives of enabling workers to carry forward healthcare insurance between jobs and prohibiting discrimination against beneficiaries with pre-existing health conditions. It does not require that medical information be withheld from fellow medical providers unless a patient requests.
In the state of Colorado, where I formerly trained providers to access information via a hospital EMR, it is also required that “next provider notification” be maintained. In other words – the next medical provider who sees a patient for a condition is required to have all medical information regarding that condition available via an EMR. Even if the first medical provider is not aware of who the next provider will be. The information is accessed via CORHIO – the Colorado Regional Health Information Organization. Every state is covered by a “RHIO”. Every credentialed medical provider has access to the RHIO.
An EMR has been proven to improve medical outcomes. Medical information is “on record”. It can be accessed easily. My experience tells me that if I were seeing a provider who does not value the EMR enough to utilize it in their decision making, I would consider them to be hindering medical care to their patient, me.
Patient contributions to the information stored in the EMR is vital to the success of medical care. I know that the same questions are repeated even if you see a provider 2 days in a row. However, it is vital. I personally experienced a drug interaction that would never have been caught by my provider unless I provided (and questioned) information. His crystal ball was on the blitz that day. It is a team effort.
This information is not something you should be concerned about while sitting in the waiting room as your bride is undergoing any medical procedure. It is not a perfect system. But hopefully a (very) little bit of clarification will help in the future.
My best to you both
Thanks for sharing all your wisdom (and crumudgeonly takes). Best wishes on the current travails.
Sitting in the hospital right now bride of 37 years. You’re right. I see the same person I married, the nurses (very caring) see an older sick patient as part of an 12 hour shift.
I share your frustration with the everyone-has-a-portal-an-Hippa-forbids-sharing problems. It’s also another case of companies outsourcing much of their labor/data entry as they can to their customers for free labor (think pumping gas and grocery checkout). By the end, my father failed to remember how log into his bank or how windows dialog boxes worked. Expecting seniors to adjust to ever changing apps will not work.
Having just retired from a career in programming/IT/cybersecurity (neither of the last two existed when I started), with some experience with AI, I see another monster coming that will be deadly: the delusion that AI can replace people driven by an obsession with cutting costs. Rant on that here
http://curious.galthub.com/blog/2024-03-19 I’d like to be positive and constructive on this, but not seeing that path …
Blessings to you and Connie. 🙏
Best wishes for a smooth and speedy recovery.
When I have to deal with a gaggle of providers, I look for ones who use MyChart, a healthcare platform with a pretty good web site and mobile app. They make sharing data with multiple providers quick, easy, and still HIPAA compliant. Out this way more and more providers and systems are hooking up to this.
MyChart is “powered by Epic”, so Epic is another platform to look for.
Good to know David, thanks. Interesting how easy it is to consolidate our finances and share info, but not so for our health care.
I will say though that from the minute we entered the hospital, everything appeared very organized and efficiently done and certainly members the staff at all levels were great to us.
In the surgery waiting room there is a large screen with the status of every patient using a code number. You can see from checking in to preparing for and in surgery, to patient in recovery to getting ready to go home. Very helpful, but nerve racking when the survey goes longer than you expected.
I had surgery 2 weeks ago and the hospital also had the patient number and status displayed at various locations around the hospital. In addition, they also texted my wife those same status updates which was convenient. We signed up for the text updates during the morning surgical pre-op check-in when the person checking me in asked my wife if she wanted text updates.
This is solely based on my experience, but it feels like the way we’re treated depends on what we’re getting treated for. Go for an annual physical, and you could easily be kept waiting for an hour or more. Go for surgery or chemotherapy, and the staff gives you the five-star treatment.
Dick – I hope you both are recovering, and that there is good news in the near future.
Dick, I hope you both rest well tonight. I’m praying for a peaceful night.
Today the major surgery that fifty years ago involved a lot of cutting and ten days in the hospital, took six hours from start to discharge and entirely laparoscopic. Looking forward to learning the end of the story when test results are back.
When I started working in health benefits, the average hospital stay was 13 days, now it is about 3.6. Of course back then an office visit was $5.00.
I will keep your wife in my prayers, today. Stay positive, she will appreciate it.
Dick, Best wishes for Connie and you. Let us know how it goes.
Hi Dick, this is Chris. I offered prayers for Connie’s surgery.
Don’t think the $0 balance is set in stone. Some how, there always seems to be a follow up bill for additional services. Hope Connie fares well and recovers quickly.
Your bride will be in my thoughts Dick.
Best wishes for today! Please let us know how the surgery goes.