Wild Card

Today at work, my manager and I were talking about the importance of continuing education. 

To give a little background, she is the Senior Manager and has been witht he company for over 10 years.  She has completed some college courses but never finished her bachelor's degree because she wanted to start a family.  She has always debated whether or not she should return to school because she has such a great job and the experience she has gained is intangible. 

Patient's Perspective

I am much undecided when it comes to this subject as I have been on both sides of the issue.  As a health care professional, I understand that patients should always be the center of care.  We have to be responsible and hold ourselves accountable for our actions and our work.  However, I also believe that as a patient, I have an obligation to be proactive with my care and in-tune with my body, and I encourage my loved ones to take the same approach.

Last year, just after Thanksgiving, my mother underwent minimally invasive robotic surgery.  She took very good care of her body pre-op and tried to follow her doctors’ orders post-op, to the T.  Being the holiday season and just weeks before Christmas, she decided it would be nice to slowly stroll through the mall.  My father would do all the reaching and lifting, she would just do the pointing and smiling (or so she said-- I’m sure she did a little more than she should have).  My parents then decided to host Christmas dinner at their house.  My mom did most of the cooking which meant she was on her feet most of the day.  Sure enough, she went to bed that night, feeling lousy and exhausted.  By 4am, the next morning, she was startling my dad out of his sleep because she was bleeding at the surgery site and wanted to go into the emergency room.  By 7am, she was in the operating room.  As we all suspected, she over extended herself.  The verdict was that a few internal stitches came loose.  Her recovery time and post-op orders hit a hard-reset.

Who was to blame in this situation?  Although she is my mother, I would have to secretly say it’s her fault.  I’m sure her physician, Dr. Reynolds, was frightened going into the emergency surgery worrying she made some critical error.  Dr. Reynolds did everything she was supposed to do [clinically] and can feel at ease with that.  What she did not do, was get to know my mother personally and know that if she gave her an inch, she would take a foot.  She told my mom she could do some light walking not knowing my mom would hear “go Christmas shopping and cook a 15-pound turkey”.

In this situation (and because I know better than she), my mother, the patients’ perspective should not be the most important determinant in this adverse event.  My mom was upset and might have wanted to blame everyone in the OR but it was really her doings resulted in an adverse event.  If my mother didn’t have myself (a young health care professional) and my sister (a 4-th year medical student) telling Dr. Reynolds the real deal with the adverse event, she could have had a malpractice suit in her hands.

In this field and in this country, I have learned that it is almost a part of the American culture to sue anyone who makes you feel slighted.  My mother could have easily gone in with my father shouting “wait for a call from my attorney” and no one would disagree with her.  Too many people hold their physicians up higher than they should and get away with it.  Doctors are not gods.  But a lot of patients are ignorant to their responsibility to be accountable for their care just as they expect their doctors to be.  Doctors should be able to feel comfortable and confident in their delivery of care.  The only way they would feel that is if their were laws protecting them and enforcing patients to be responsible and alert when it comes to their health.

Friends + Healthcare

Most of my close girl friends are in the health care field.  My best friend is a Human Resources Generalist at an acute care hospital.  Another friend is a credentialing specialist for a huge physician group.  And two other close friends work for Florida Hospital; one is an assistant to the Residency Director and the other is a Human Resources Assistant.

The topic of discussion during girls-night-out is usually about work but try to make a conscious effort to leave work at work and chat about our personal lives.  I think we all enjoy hearing about each others’ roles and the significance our roles have within the organization.  We are all fairly young and for most of them, their current job is their first within the field.  We all know a little bit about a lot and end up teaching and learning from each other.  The healthcare field is huge and it is interesting to find out from my peers what other opportunities are available within the same scope of practice.

On the other hand, my boyfriend and many of my guy friends work various jobs outside of healthcare and know close to nothing about the field.  When around me, they seem to think I have all the answers to all things health.  They ask me all kinds of questions varying from the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to money withheld from their paycheck for benefits.  It is fun to have their discussions to educate but a lot of times I do not have all the answers and find myself online doing my own little research projects.  I like to learn more so that I can answer their questions with correct and educated answers.  By sharing my knowledge and interest in the field it has them feeling more welcome to ask more questions and sometimes even research on their own.  

Because I am in Managed Care contracting, I have one friend that constantly asks me about his health insurance plan.  He is covered by UnitedHealthcare which has one of the biggest and [because of the size] best networks.  The company offers great benefits to their members regardless of their policy.  The online tools are available to all of their members which include preventative care tips, informative videos, healthy dieting and exercise advice and much, much more.  He recently told me how much money they take from each paycheck and he was considering cancelling it for now since he is a health, low-risk 26-year-old athletic male.  I encouraged him to keep it at least until the final rollout of the ACA to see if there will be better options for him to switch to as opposed to just dropping his plan completely.  He shares the same sentiment as many healthy, active young adults but health insurance has become such a luxury today that I encourage all to keep their coverage while it's being offered.  While he is paying for the coverage, I suggested he take advantage of the benefits.  He should be going to his doctor of annual physicals, blood work, and immunizations.  I do not know the span of his coverage but I do know that he wears glass and has a heart murmur.  Those 2 conditions alone should be enough encouragement for him to keep the plan so I am hoping he does.

Healthcare is more than what I study.  I am always interested in learning more about the field.  I enjoy spreading my little bit of knowledge on a bunch of different healthcare topics with other whom maybe be less interested but more-so just curious.

What does quality mean to me?

Quality means the BEST of the best.  In reference to clothes, food, housing, service, reporting—quality is the best of what can be offered. 

Quality clothes are made of the finest fabrics and designed by my favorite designer. 

Quality food is prepared with the freshest ingredients, made by my favorite chef, and served in the perfect dining setting.

Quality housing is in a clean, safe, lively neighborhood built with the latest and greatest materials and tools by the most reliable contractors.

Quality service is anything that meets or exceeds my expectations for whatever the task may be.

Quality news is delivered by the journalist or network that gets it right every time (in my opinion) and never delivers bias news or messages.

Quality is in the mind of the beholder in many cases but in healthcare… quality standards will vary in the eyes of the patient versus the provider.  Many patients have the tendency to base their idea of quality on their health outcomes. Because health conditions at different ages and stages vary case by case, providers may not always have full control of the outcome. 

I think that both the patient and provider have to play equal parts in their healthcare.  It is the patients’ responsibility to seek preventative care and make annual visits to their primary care physician.  Patients should be just as proactive and concerned with their health as they would expect their provider to be.  Once a patient is under the care of a provider, it is then the responsibility of the provider to do all that they can to aid their patients.  Physicians can only do so much with the cards they are handed  and it should be their primary objective to exhaust all options before giving patients a definitive outcome.

As a healthcare professional, we may want to believe that quality is subjective but lawmakers and patients make the final call in quality matters.  Many times, f a patient feels they received less than quality care, they will make their story heard loud and clear.  Some patients or family members will report unsatisfactory care to the facility administrator while others will go as far as litigation.  It is up to healthcare professionals (not providers or other clinicians) to be the middle-voice of reason between both parties.  We want to protect our patients and provide them with the best care but we also want to be confident in our healthcare delivery team and protect them as well.

Click here to view a short video made by the Cleveland Clinic and their take on quality.