As with all fields, healthcare has room for improvement. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) identified six areas for improvement in healthcare. These include improving the safety of healthcare. Healthcare should be timely, efficient, equitable, patient-focused, effective and safe. I recently had a family member admitted to a community hospital. In some ways, the hospital achieved these goals. In others, the hospital did not.
My family member went to the emergency department with severe flank pain. It was determined that she had both a severe kidney infection (pyelonephritis) and a large kidney stone in her kidney. She needed surgery to give the kidney a larger passage for the stone. I must note that my family member is far from a “good” patient. She is demanding, rude and believes that she knows as much as a healthcare professional because she is also a scientist. Her field is not medicine though. She was given prompt and efficient care. She was treated equitably by most of the staff. Her diagnosis was made promptly. However, her care was not patient-focused. She was not given pain management as directed by her physician. She was lied to about the orders by the nursing staff. They could not establish an IV on her and she was lied to about receiving “twilight” medicine to put one in her arm.
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In one case, she was not treated equitably. A GI doctor refused the consult because he heard she was a “difficult” patient. Her physician told her this. We often view “equitable” treatment based upon race and religion. We do not realize that it should also include personality. No, my family member is not pleasant and several of us told her this. The health care professionals are just trying to do their job. However, they also signed up for a job in which they knew they would deal with people at their worst. They should not be allowed to refuse to deal with these people.
