Report From The Field

Lisa Suennen--who knows wellness aid real well indeed--offers this summary of a recent tachycardia hospitalization experience.  So much rings then true.  But for those of you lot who are convinced that EHR technology scientific discipline is the reply inwards general, or that Epic inwards specific offers the solution to proper exchanges of patient medical information or has solved the ease-of-use problem, read on:

• I was told to band the bell if I felt my middle racing. So I did on 2 occasions. In both of those situations, no i responded to the telephone scream upwards bell. Since the nurses had no agency of knowing if my argue for ringing was a crisis or not, it was quite discomfiting when I later on walked into the hall to larn attending past times interrupting the real loud give-and-take the nurses were having well-nigh their favorite TV shows at the nursing station. On that occasion I was told, “Oh sorry, nosotros just never listen the bell.” Later, when it happened again, I was told that the nurses are only besides busy to respond to patients calls. True story.
• I got downright bullied past times a physician who wanted to rush me into procedures that I felt to live unnecessary, premature in addition to excessive. When I questioned his recommendations (based on my ain wonderful doctor’s input), he tried to guilt me into compliance in addition to treated me amongst unbelievable rudeness. He scoffed—literally scoffed—when I told him that if I needed whatever actual procedures I would run across my green doctor, give thank you lot you, who happened to live at a dissimilar infirmary than where the ambulance took me. He told me that I was existence shortsighted in addition to that the services at both places are the same then it made no difference. Lord, I promise that isn’t true.
• That same doctor, in addition to his retinue of residents, “attended” to me without always speaking to me, looking me inwards the oculus or bespeak me how I was feeling.  It was non until I asked the physician a enquiry did whatever of them await or beak to me.   It was insulting in addition to made me experience similar a diagnosis, non a human. When the primary resident lastly spoke to me, she asked me questions that made it clear she had non read my chart, inconveniently located inwards her hand.
• In the commencement room I was set inwards at that topographic point was a seriously disturbed mortal inwards the adjacent bed who started screaming in addition to swearing at me when, at three am, I asked her to plough downward the book on the television. Granted, I was instantly moved (the nurses did listen the lady screaming at me if they couldn’t listen the telephone scream upwards bell), but the novel room had a real sick mortal inwards it who hacked in addition to coughed in addition to spewed lord knows what or then the room. If they always answered the nurse telephone scream upwards bell, I would have got asked for a Lysol bath. I was pretty certain that I didn’t travel into the infirmary amongst ebola, but I was non then certain I’d travel out without it.
• I was told, “don’t worry, since this infirmary in addition to that infirmary where your physician plant both role Epic, your physician tin displace larn all the records past times just signing in.” Hahaha…that’s a skillful one! These 2 hospitals are inwards solely dissimilar wellness systems in addition to I got to state my novel representative managing director friends well-nigh how Health Information Exchanges operate in addition to how the absence of i would hateful that I needed a newspaper re-create of my records to have got along, give thank you lot you. I’m guessing that most patients don’t know that in addition to walk out without their information–a nightmare inwards the making when you lot have got a lot of follow upwards to do.
• Incidentally, I constitute out that none of the information collected inwards the hotel room or ambulance made it into my infirmary record. None of it. So inwards other words, the information from the most critical business office of the experience was plainly lost since ambulances to a greater extent than oft than non practice non transfer clinical item to hospitals. Fortunately (?) some of this information was recovered eventually since the paramedics had left all of the master copy EKG readings on the flooring of my hotel room. Hello HIPAA. This made me realize how of import this connectivity betwixt emergency responders in addition to hospitals actually is. I sort of knew that (hence my back upwards of Beyond Lucid Technologies, which helps solve this problem), but the lesson was brought dwelling household inwards a big agency through directly experience.
• I was given examination after examination without existence given results unless I specifically asked for each one. Since each examination number was going to create upwards one's heed the adjacent steps well-nigh my care, my stay, my life, I was sort of annoyed to have got to proceed on bespeak what the hell was going on. I was specially annoyed when, at midnight, I was carted off to a CT scan that hadn’t been mentioned. OK, uncle, I figured. I’ll have got the test, but I did non bask existence told that I had to figure out how to jam my shoulder downward apartment despite the fact that a twenty-year quondam botched shoulder surgical physical care for makes that literally impossible. The tech “helping” me amongst this told me she would just “push my shoulder down” in addition to strap it if demand be. That would have got sent me correct dorsum to the orthopedic fly of the infirmary every bit they frantically searched for the nails falling from my shoulder to the floor, then I firmly suggested nosotros honor some other way. She was overtly exasperated at the inconvenience.
• And speaking of Epic, I watched my nurse in addition to physician fighting well-nigh the doctor’s mistakenly putting inwards examination orders using the incorrect fourth dimension convention (“regular” fourth dimension vs. state of war machine time), thus accidentally scheduling my examination 12 hours after it was supposed to happen. The physician took serious umbrage amongst the nurse pointing out the error, fifty-fifty though the nurse was right, in addition to the nurse spent much of the balance of the shift telling me what a jerk the physician tin displace be. Not besides professional person all around.
• And the crowning glory: I just received all of my claims letters notifying me that all of my charges were rejected. The reason: I am no longer covered nether the plan. Well that’s precisely right, because they sent the bills to whatever happened to live inwards their information organisation rather than to the payer noted on my latterly issued novel insurance card, which I had produced on demand at to the lowest degree three assort times inwards the commencement three hours of the experience. So at nowadays I larn to chase that i down.

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