supreme court watch

I am employed by a subsidiary of a very large company that buys up rural hospitals and attempts to deliver patient care to those who walk through the revolving door that is healthcare today. I suppose that the goal is to rip off Medicare have the team communicate in the most efficient way possible to treat whatever presents and pays our salaries. A whole helluva lot of us do it because it's an opportunity to do the right thing. Some don't, but that's their problem. I have spent about 48 hours as my mother's patient advocate accompanied by other members of the team. I'm taking notes and checking them twice, even though we're a long way from santy claus time.

In any service delivery organization, the key is communication. Most of the physicians that I have dealt with are of some foreign origin where women are to be seen and not heard. The exceptions are other team members who know that a well informed staff can tell you what's up. Where I work, that's a rarity because we are serving a population that is not much on keeping up with details. Mostly they hire people at minimum wage to do what folks with a little bit of training and education could do much more efficiently, but that costs money. When we were acquired by Wall Street, things went from a jumbled up mess to my worst nightmare as a healthcare provider.

My mother is almost 80 years old...Daddy is already there. I am prepared to care for them until there's nothing else to do, but that doesn't include heroic measures that pad some idiot's pocket so his wife doesn't have to work and he can afford malpractice and can raise their kids here in the land of the free and home of the brave. I am totally over doing somebody else's job for them because it's not worth it if you have to fight that hard. I will take care of me and mine the best I can and other than that? You're on your own. I'm sitting here thinking about all of the corporate groups that have made a kazillion dollars off the sweat of my back and the ache in my knees and that pisses me off big time. DPG..ya'll listening..Poops needs a bonus.

Tomorrow's court decision is one that could make a big difference in the way medicine is practiced in this country. The GOP is using their usual birther mentality, attempting to sway public opinion away from funding for basic preventive health. The most valuable thing I learned in therapy is to act as if and expensive tests and treatments are not what that's about. Hospice benefits are enormous and I remember distinctly the day that I stood watch with my dying aunt as the HH nurse popped in a catheter while I held the lamp so she could see what she was doing.

If the people don't stand up and say "amen", we're all screwed ^j^