Why our Medical Costs are High

[dons2346]

Bubba had shingles.
Those of us who spend much time in a doctor's office should appreciate this! Doesn't it seem more and more that physicians are running their practices like an assembly line?
Here's what happened to Bubba:

Bubba walked into a doctor's office and the receptionist asked him what he had. Bubba said: 'Shingles.' So she wrote down his name, address, medical insurance number and told him to have a seat.

Fifteen minutes later a nurse's aide came out and asked Bubba what he had.
Bubba said, 'Shingles.' So she wrote down his height, weight, a complete medical history and told Bubba to wait in the examining room.

A half hour later a nurse came in and asked Bubba what he had. Bubba said, 'Shingles..' So the nurse gave Bubba a blood test, a blood pressure test, an electrocardiogram, and told Bubba to take off all his clothes and wait for the doctor.


An hour later the doctor came in and found Bubba sitting patiently in the nude and asked Bubba what he had.


Bubba said, 'Shingles.' The doctor asked, 'Where?'
Bubba said, 'Outside on the truck. Where do you want me to unload 'em??'

[Carne Frio]

Not far off from what happens daily in clinics all over the country.
At least 50% of all medical testing is done to cover their butts
from malpractice lawyers, not because of a real need.

[red14]

Originally Posted by Carne Frio

Not far off from what happens daily in clinics all over the country.
At least 50% of all medical testing is done to cover their butts
from malpractice lawyers, not because of a real need.

I would say the % is higher. Lawyers are ruining our country. Check out how many politicians are lawyers.

[Carne Frio]

Originally Posted by red14

I would say the % is higher. Lawyers are ruining our country. Check out how many politicians are lawyers.

Depressing, huh ?

[BIGBOOMER]

This reminds me of a story a friend of mine told me happened when he was stationed in Korea some years ago. They had some Korean civilian workers on the base, many of whom spoke little or no English. One day they had a plugged up toilet in the dispensary so they sent one of these Korean workers in to fix the problem. Because of his communication issues in the English language, they pinned a note on his shirt that said, "Fix stopped head". Inside, they gave him a shot of penicillin!

[dianalv]

Originally Posted by Carne Frio

Not far off from what happens daily in clinics all over the country.
At least 50% of all medical testing is done to cover their butts
from malpractice lawyers, not because of a real need.

I've noticed that doctors no longer give a physical examination. They ask questions, take notes, and order expensive tests, all from across the examination room from the patient. Did all patients suddenly develop cooties, or are doctors not trained to do examinations anymore, or do they simply lack confidence in their abilities to diagnose a problem?

[red14]

Originally Posted by dianalv

I've noticed that doctors no longer give a physical examination. They ask questions, take notes, and order expensive tests, all from across the examination room from the patient. Did all patients suddenly develop cooties, or are doctors not trained to do examinations anymore, or do they simply lack confidence in their abilities to diagnose a problem?

The medical profession is more about numbers of patients than 'care' now. For every minute with the doctor, there 59 somewhere else. It is kinda like being at Disneyworld. You wait in a line for 2 hours, and 5 separate places, and have a 2 minute ride.