It’s time for me to do another update! I had a few appointments of my own this month and it got me thinking about the state of health care right now. To be honest it’s not good.
First, I had an appointment with my PCP. Let’s take a minute to celebrate Dr. K. She is amazing and I am so glad I found her. I do not envy her job in family practice. They are the most overworked and under appreciated specialties. This is where I have my first issue. Why are we only allowing for 20min visits? It is almost impossible for a provider to be through and personable in that time frame. Plus, most patients do not understand that in that 20 min timeframe a PCP cannot address multiple issues. If you have multiple things to talk about, you most likely need appointments for each one. However if the provider shuts down the conversation they will most likely be viewed as rushed or unfriendly and not listening. So they end up talking about multiple issues in a 20 min visit and then running behind. Of course if you give them longer appointment slots they see less patients and have less availability. Then people are mad they cannot be seen for even longer.
My next issue, I scheduled this appointment shortly of I saw Dr. K for my yearly physical. I don’t typically have a lot of reasons to see Dr. K, since I don’t usually get “real people sick”. Because of this I make it a point to have a yearly physical and remind her I am still alive. When I saw her in October we had a conversation about bananas. **Obviously we did not really discuss bananas, but the internet does not need all my health care information. So I will be using the word bananas. ** Dr. K said I could think on our conversation and if I had more questions to set up another appointment. At the end of October that is what I did. The first available was January! I get bananas are not urgent but I did not want to wait that long. I know how the system works and understood there really wasn’t anything to be done so I went with it.
I finally had my appointment and after a week of considering and doing some more research (not Dr. Google) I decided I wanted to buy some bananas. I told Dr. K and reached out to set this up. The first available appointment was the end of March! Again, buying bananas is not urgent but come on. It does affect quality of life. Luckily behind the scenes she was doing some kind of magic and I got in sooner.
My next appointment was with my endocrinologist. This time I saw M, the PA. She is wonderful as well and so sweet. The first issue was that the office was running behind. Who knows why, but I waited almost 30 min to see her. Just because I understand the health care system does not mean I don’t get frustrated with it. Also, I was still recovering from food poisoning and trying to keep my stomach from rejecting its contents all over the exam room. Luckily for me, and M that did NOT happen. My next follow up is supposed to be 3-4 months with Dr. E (M will be on maternity leave) in April-ish. Well the first available was June?! I’m an engaged patient and will be able to manage needs via portal, but yikes!
The thing is, at work I am telling patients the same things. I swear if I take one more phone call from scheduling about a provider not having openings and “can I assist with scheduling since nothing is suggesting” I’m gonna lose it. No Brenda, I cannot. Where would you like me to pull this appointment from? My butt? I feel frustrated and powerless. I understand why parents are upset, but there is nothing I can do to fix the problem. I am left reassuring them we will still manage any needs get their kid refills and to please stay in touch. It’s not fair and it’s not the level of care I want to give. But it is all I can do. I also worry about our providers who are being asked to see more and more patients when they cannot even see the patients they have. I see how tired they are. I wish I could help.
People are leaving health care in droves. Providers, nurses, RT, PT, you name it. There are plenty of job openings, but no one applying. Honestly, I don’t blame them. We are continuously being asked to do more and more. With less resources. I know teachers can relate. It makes me sad because I love what I do. Even on the days when I question going back to school, I know deep down it is what I want and am supposed to do. Knowing I will graduate in a year and a half into the mess we have now is scary. I just hope I will be up for the challenge.
Health care has been in triage mode since the pandemic began and I am not sure how it recovers. There is not one solution because there is not one problem. Lately I have just wanted to burn it down and try again.
thechronicconfessional.com 