Results Based Medicine
Filed Under (Random Note) by Nic on 28-03-2008
Tagged Under : 30 seconds generation, doctors, generation-x, medicine
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My doctor, the blood tests, the x-rays, they all came back. They all came back idiots. I’m pissed off.
I just figured out that I have to pay the doctor that saw me R250 and then claim back from Discovery who will only pay a portion of that price.
What should I pay for? Knowledge?
I think not. I was told, conclusively, that I should sit through the illness, wait it out and feel better. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
That was the incredible knowledge that my doctor, x-rays and blood tests gave me. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Jack. Shit.
Now I am being told that I have to pay the idiots that sent me from pillar to post getting x-rays and blood tests. Why did they force me to do that if they were going to give me the same answer, over the phone, after hours and hours of waiting? Why? Now I must pay them for what?
If someone can conclusively tell me exactly what I should pay my doctor R250 for, then I’ll pay. But I got nothing.
1. Pay for his time? He should pay me for mine: I was made to wait 30 minutes before my “consultation”, before and after my x-rays, before my second consultation, a trip home, twice, blood tests.
2. Pay for his knowledge? I got “Sit through the illness” and no diagnosis.
3. Pay for the x-rays and bloods? I was forced to do those and they were both inconclusive.
and 4. They should pay me for petrol. I spent alot of it driving up and down to those twits.
Needless to say, I’m leaving my doctor.
It’s sad.
What my doctors really need is a bit of education regarding the 30 second generation.
Here comes the important part, so if you’re intrigued, listen closely to yourself when you read this out loud:
I will not wait 30 minutes for an appointment, not anymore. I will not take shit from anyone, irrespective of their “authoritative” position. Doctor’s are as deserving of my respect as I am of theirs. They need to realise that my time is now more important than theirs, in the past it might not have been perceived that way, now it is. Make it snappy doc and make it right. And finally I am results driven. Don’t give me rubbish answers that you think will baffle me cause you know what, I can actually research your diagnosis nowadays on this crazy fad called a net-site, it’s this new, connected medium. Madness. I know.
Get with the times and show me some results.
Check out Jay Parkinson MD’s site; he is just the kind of doctor that would suit you, but sadly he is in New York. Perhaps this idea should be punted to the current crop of medical students who are more likely to get it than GPs already in practice. Jay also happens to be a kick-arse photographer.
Doctors should realise that today’s patients are not of the generation who sat silently and respectfully in front of a demi-god.
Medicine used to be a vocation its now big business. Patients are the consumers who demand the same service and value they would get from any other service provider.
To quote the movie Juno:
“Doctors are sadists who like to play God and watch lesser people scream.”
@SaulK and this is where my point stands - we no longer consider ourselves “lesser” people. While my Grandfather’s era still think that doctors are a cut above the rest of us. Not anymore!
Fighting a losing battle. Doctors might not be as bright and sparky as a lot of people nowadays, but people still need them more than most. Thus, although your reach to information is so much shortened and immediate, your comprehension is still not as specific compared to that of a doctor. So, bitch and moan all you like, because all you have is a voice with no carry regarding this battle.
There is more often than not a dire, life threatening need for good medicine practitioners.