He’s Back!

For those of you who missed it, which is probably all of you except the Elves who heard this by phone, I got to spend my weekend in the hospital. And a fun weekend it was. Having literally just gotten back from the hospital a few minutes ago, I thought I would share a few observations about modern medicine in the evil private sector.

By way of background, let me apologize to everyone whose comments/articles I’ve ignored since Friday. Friday night I got to experience my first heart attack! Good times. Oddly, it didn’t seem like a heart attack at all. It felt like someone punched me, just below the throat. It totally seemed like a muscle thing and the only reason I even went to the hospital was that the pain kept burning and eventually I could feel it around back -- which I knew from a legal case could be a sign of a dissection. So I went to the hospital to make sure it wasn’t that.

I got the ER of our brand new private sector hospital (3 years old) and was immediately taken to the back, where the staff were able to give me a bunch of tests on the spot to confirm that they should probably give me more tests. There was nothing conclusive, but there was enough that they wanted to look further, including some damage to the heart tissue as shown by an enzyme test. Over time, the testing showed a greater likelihood of a heart attack, so eventually I ended up getting a heart catheterization. This is where they go in through one of your limbs and poke around inside the heart with a camera. If they find something, they can fix it at that point. Fortunately, they found nothing.

What struck me first and foremost was how not-hospital-like the hospital was. I’ve stayed in luxury hotels that weren’t this nice. They had everything from private rooms for everyone to flat screen televisions to an abundance of staff. But even more interestingly, everything was computerized. I had a band on my wrist with a bar code. Before anyone could give me a medication or do anything to me, they had to scan the bar code and then ask my name and date of birth as confirmation. This was just really impressive. As someone who has handled both sides of medical practice actions, this struck me as an ingenious way to (1) prevent mistakes and (2) document everything. And indeed, it did stop one nurse from giving me the wrong medications after a shift change.

Then it hit me, aren’t we supposed to assume that the private sector can’t handle things like hospitals because they want to go el cheapo? Strangely, I saw no evidence of that anywhere. They had spent large amount of money everything they did.

For example, like I said, everything was computerized. The nurses pushed around carts with laptops on them. They could give me lab results the minute they were done. They had wireless things all over me sending off data that alerted the nurses immediately if something weird was going on with me. Everyone on staff had a cell phone and could reach anyone else at any point.

The physical lay out was great too. Well furnished, very tasteful. Each room had its own temperature controls and a private bath. The staff was professional and in no way understaffed. They all seemed quiet content with the management. The food was really good as well. It wasn’t something you would buy at a restaurant, but it was quite tasty.

How could this be with a private company running the hospital?

Maybe it was just because it was a new hospital? Nope. I ended up being transferred to the older branch of the hospital for the catheterization and discovered a nearly identical facility. This company had spent a ton of money rebuilding the older hospital right after putting up the new one -- they are also adding more parts.

Ok, so maybe it was my primo Commentarama Insurance, right? Actually, I don’t have insurance. And they asked me that at the front door, so the hospital knew right away. BUT they didn’t care. They could have turned me away and sent me to the city hospital downtown, but they didn’t.

Moreover, they apparently don’t even share this information with the doctors or nurses. So they have no idea if the person they are working on is on great insurance or doesn’t have two dimes to rub together.

Again, none of this makes sense if you believe the Obama version of the private sector or the scare tactics about “two tiers” of care.

In fact, there are two tiers of care. Downtown, there is a city-owned hospital. It’s a pit. They are finally entering the 1930s in terms of medical quality and their facilities resemble a prison.

So tell me this. If private sector companies are so bad, then why wasn’t I turned away when I said I had no insurance? With a public hospital in town, this hospital has no obligation to see me. And why did they not curtail my care somewhere along the way until I could prove that I could pay my bills? (They never once asked what I earn -- in fact, they assumed I won’t be paying and they automatically referred me to an indigent group that picks up some of the tab for people who can’t pay.)

All of this flies in the face of what Obama and his fellow travelers tell us we should find in a private sector hospital. And it makes you wonder what our healthcare will look like if Obamacare ever takes hold?