I am currently a student at the University of Wisconsin Madison going into the medical field as an optometrist or radiologist. I feel out-patient care is essential for health care. Not only is out-patient care beneficial for patients well-being, but it is also cost-effective. Patients are released sooner which allows a faster recovery. Out-patient care is also less expensive for the patient and the insurance companies.
However, I also feel that insurance companies have too much control over out-patient care. Many times insurance companies make the decision as to when a patient is ready to be released by setting protocols for doctors to follow. However, not every person is the same and may not fit into a protocol. Patients react to anesthetic differently and may require more or less recovery time after surgery. Patients being sent home too early acquire additional health problems later.
I feel out-patient care is essential for treatment, but doctors should make decisions and not be forced to follow a protocol established by an insurance company.
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I like your last statement, because it's extremely true. I feel like the protocol established by the insurance companies is part of the reason why quality isn't at it's highest, and the amount of people turned down is greater because of this. I agree with what you say about companies having too much control. They are more or less out for the money, which is not what health care should be about.
ReplyDeleteI agree that outpatient care is beneficial and cost effective. Also, I agree with your statement about insurance companies and their control, or power, over doctor protocols. It's just strange that insurance companies would have control over those sorts of regulations.
ReplyDeleteI agree that outpatient care is both cost effective and beneficial to patients.
ReplyDeleteTime and again I have found protocol to get in the way of individual needs and sensible care. No two people are exactly alike and should not be treated as such.
ReplyDeleteWhen I had my first hip replacement I was instructed by nurses to rise from bed a certain way based on typical proceedures. I could not do this due to the fact I had severe bone fusion in my neck and throughout my whole spine. I had to re-explain this each time a nurse tried to have me rise from bed. If only they had let me do it my way in the first place. I don't blame them - for following proceedures, but as you pointed out, proceedures are not always correct. This supports individualized care, which I am seeing more in hospitals these days.
Thank you for authoring on this blog. I appreciate your thoughts about improving health care and hope you will comment on other postings in this blog or other blogs about health care. I wonder if we can write better protocols that accomodate individual differences. Without standards of care and clinical guidelines, it is much harder to recognize what this most-respected profession has to offer.
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