Let’s Not Jump To Conclusions….But…
This story about the homeless woman removed from the hospital (in cuffs) who was then jailed and died is absolutely terrible. It happened in September so there really shouldn’t be any new facts discovered (i.e. the “hoodie” case). How three hospitals could miss a DVT is weird. I do not like the statement made by St. Mary’s Health Center which went:
“The sad reality is that emergency departments across the country are often a place of last resort for many people in our society who suffer from complex social problems that become medical issues when they are not addressed. It is unfortunate that it takes a tragic event like this to call attention to a crisis in our midst.”
Are they really trying to make this case a call to arms to fix all the social ills of the country? Talk about trying to deflect attention. Someone needs a new PR person. Yes, ERs do see a lot of complex social problems which can turn into medical problems. So do family doctors and internists. Actually, so do all doctors. That being said, and forgive me if new facts do get uncovered, someone should have got a damn ultrasound on this lady’s leg.
They did ultrasound her… but she also presented to a pediatric hospital and acted very disruptive and (for lack of a better word) crazy. I’m sure that did a lot for her care, especially when the peds hospital was right next door to a well-known adult hospital and she refused transfer at one point. One of my friends is an attending in the peds ER. There’s much more to this story I’m afraid.
I’m from St. Louis, and as I read the news coverage (and recognizing that it can be less than accurate sometimes and it did not include a clear timeline), she did get an ultrasound, but it was 24 hours before they eventually sent her to jail.
I am glad to see that some physicians are beginning to try to preserve the physician-patient relationship without the middle tier of regulators, whether federal, state, or insurance companies, controlling the physicians’ decisions about the best care for their patients.
However, as I look over the AtlasMD website, I am unable to tell from the web site how many people it takes to support the two physicians in providing this care.
Or how much some outside company charges to provide the infrastructure for concierge medicine. We need to know these things as we encourage physicians to explore these alternative ways of delivering health care.
We are only now coming to grips with the high cost of electronic health care records. And while physicians who provide this kind of personalized care no doubt can keep their patients out of the hospital in greater numbers than the usual practice modalities, anyone with a significant number of patients over 65 is going to be dealing with hospitalizations.
But yes, I agree, this model looks really appealing. I’d love to hear more about the real nitty-gritty of practicing this way. I am anxious to see how this works out over time.
I have no insurance, so have to budget visits to my doctor, who is a wonderful young woman. Low income medical clinic here closed. Now only resource for many is the ER. Hospitals should operate a small clinic to treat folks who are poor & keep them out of the ER. Ideas anyone?
Here is the perfect answer:
http://www.atlas.md
Though they are in Kansas, their model looks great.