Saturday, April 03, 2010
I'm receiving indifferent care from the only reputable urologist my HMO had that I could reach by mass transit. Associated with a large teaching hospital, he doesn't seem very interested in managing his office practice or being a day-to-day urologist in addition to being a surgeon & teacher. He's supposedly one of the best surgeons in Jersey in his field. By contrast, a nearby group urology practice I had to see a few times initially but wasn't on my HMO was run efficiently & expertly, with assistants who were clearly trained for the specialty. My urologist doesn't even have a regular routine for looking at the many test results that no doubt arrive in his office every day. I know this from experience. At least one of his assistants is capable of reading them, flagging the ones he ought to look at immediately, & bringing them to his attention no matter how busy he is. But she is not instructed to do so. She was making excuses to me the other day on why he had not yet seen one of mine. None of the reasons were acceptable. I should be near the top of the doctor's must know list.
My HMO was sold to to another health management company, on March 1 another local urologist became available, & it's unclear if the current doctor is with the new HMO. His paperwork person said nothing when I handed her the new card. She just inputted the info & handed it back, unconcerned when I mentioned the possible need for a "continuance of care" request for an out-of-network doctor.
The reason I haven't beaten the drums incessantly in this blog for single payer, federal health care system (although I'm a British Labourite) is that the parts of our health system that have to pick up most of the millions of new enrollees are the least equipped to do it, they're so stressed out. I deal with the urban system. I've gotten poor care from specialists with big comfortable offices in Millburn & Edison NJ. In one treatment, it was care that I could have, & should have, brought suit over. & I've had excellent care from over-worked doctors, nurses, & other personnel. Only Cadillac Plans always offer you the "best" care, then only if you can access it. The best care may be impossibly inconvenient. Even in Jersey, a doctor only 30 miles away can require hours & hours of travel & waiting for a 15 minute appointment. But for the typical consumer, you have to take what's in your network.
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." Thomas Jefferson
My HMO was sold to to another health management company, on March 1 another local urologist became available, & it's unclear if the current doctor is with the new HMO. His paperwork person said nothing when I handed her the new card. She just inputted the info & handed it back, unconcerned when I mentioned the possible need for a "continuance of care" request for an out-of-network doctor.
The reason I haven't beaten the drums incessantly in this blog for single payer, federal health care system (although I'm a British Labourite) is that the parts of our health system that have to pick up most of the millions of new enrollees are the least equipped to do it, they're so stressed out. I deal with the urban system. I've gotten poor care from specialists with big comfortable offices in Millburn & Edison NJ. In one treatment, it was care that I could have, & should have, brought suit over. & I've had excellent care from over-worked doctors, nurses, & other personnel. Only Cadillac Plans always offer you the "best" care, then only if you can access it. The best care may be impossibly inconvenient. Even in Jersey, a doctor only 30 miles away can require hours & hours of travel & waiting for a 15 minute appointment. But for the typical consumer, you have to take what's in your network.
