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October 17th, 2007 · 3 Comments

Should Patients Run the Hospitals?

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I was just in a chat room at justin.tv/carollinreporting sharing some story ideas and this whole notion of patient power came up. I’d saved a WSJ article and threw it out to the group. The headline:  “Hospitals Boost Patients’ Power As Advisers”. What? Huh? “Are we sure we want the inmates running the asylum?” But wait a minute. Why shouldn’t the consumer judge the product in an open market place?  The British have studied this and here’s just one observation: Getting feedback from the patients about care is confusing and contradictory. The nurses hated professionalizing patients. Who wants to change the boss’s bedpans, afterall? But the trend is heading that way. Soon, Medicare will require hospitals to publish customer satisfaction and respond to complaints to avoid being sued. It’s about time.  Just ask colon cancer patient Richard Farrell who’s oncologist told him he was a-goner. The more they talked about just making him comfortable while the cancer took over, the more uncomfortable he became! His decision to demand care at a top cancer center probably saved his life! The University of Washington Medical Center created a Rehabilitative Services Council and because of a 50 year old wheelchair bound patient, the center redesigned their bathrooms and changed the electronic doors so they wouldn’t smack the disabled patients in the back. That’s good news! But what do you think the trade off’s would be? The jtv’ers said “the God Complex“. Power hungry patients telling the doctors what to do. What do you think?   Let’s SCROLL and POLL!! Vote now!

Tags: Carol Reports

3 responses so far ↓

  • 1 JayMoney // Oct 17, 2007 at 1:39 pm

    Here is my two cents…

    Face to Face surveys are better than just handing a patient a survey card and hope they fill it out. Most people who leave the hospital take with them tons of papers; most never get read and others are just discarded. If the system ask for people to submit to a Face to Face Survey about the hospital it would help. In a private place, don’t ask patients these kinds of questions in the billing lobby with everyone listening most won’t tell the truth they will just agree.

    Then Medicare asking hospitals to publish customer satisfaction surveys, but who are they to ask of this while they themselves don’t do it. What is the alternative to Medicare when you get older? None you just hope and pray that your illness is covered and the Out of Pocket does not take away your life savings.

    We need Medicare but we also need a willing and able body to help not bureaucratic low paid, just making a paycheck every week employees who don’t care at all. At the end of the day they just keep counting how many days till payday.

    JayMoney

  • 2 coolluke from justin.tv // Oct 20, 2007 at 7:47 am

    Does the consumer have any say in the hospital, except for the grace of the staff? Not with the ones I am familiar.
    Face to Face surveys are great, but nothing like a card in hand, or a phone number to call right after an incident has occurred. If possible, THEN a face to face follow up could be in order. It would most likely reduce legal battles.

  • 3 Carol // Oct 21, 2007 at 9:08 am

    coolluke, the grace of the staff is important. My personal experience is that ya gotta be nice. very nice. Persistent too. If not, the patient will wait longer, especially if there’s no loved one around to be the squeaky wheel.

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