The Fragmentation of American Medical Care

The wonderful days of having a family doctor who knew you and your family and took care of most medical problems seems long gone except in small or rural communities. Now, particularly in HMOs, patients seems to be shuttled from doctor to doctor with great fragmentation of care and no one doctor controlling a patient's medical care. Doctors communicating with each other seems to be almost a lost art. Medication and tests are often duplicated and the idea of a specific diagnosis or treatment plan seems to be lost. I have a friend who sadly belongs to an HMO and she calls me frequently for advice. She calls me her "M.D. coach." She was delighted when I gave her the idea of putting just three questions on a three by five card and insisting that each doctor answer the questions. She is getting better care, but still has no diagnosis or treatment plan. I keep pushing her to have an orthopedist see her, but instead she has seen a rheumatologist, a sports medicine doctor and had numerous X-rays and MRIs. She still is having difficulty being able to sit down and has been told a variety of things. I am appalled at the care she is receiving or I should say not receiving. One of her X-rays was misread and at least she insisted another radiologist review it. (The doctor had stated he saw a problem with the left leg when it was actually the right leg). It is good he was not operating on her. 

I always urge patients to see doctors who are not connected to an HMO if they can afford to do so. However, once Trump and Paul Ryan start messing with health insurance it may be that only the wealthy can afford to pay for private insurance. 

Comments

[ADAM H]

Thanks for share it contains lot of information which is very useful for us i like this blog.

[kacy]

This is very useful information, those days of family doctors are almost non existent.

[lisa]

Awesome information