(Snippets from the frontline)
Scrutinizing a new hospital doctor
Hospitals are a buffer between life and death.
In the past, you chose your doctor based on trust and confidence in their medical decision-making. Nowadays, you might be admitted by a physician you have never met known as a hospitalist.
Most are recently trained, technologically suave, and replete with medical algorithms “templating” you through a diagnosis. They work a week at a time for consecutive twelve hour days, so at the end of their shift you get a new doctor to handle your algorithm.
To assure trust and confidence in your hospitalist, you or your advocate should:
- get their business card;
- check credentials with your State medical licensing board;
- demand you have a medical specialist (consultant) on the case should you have a severe problem like heart attack or pneumonia;
- make sure you are not discharged prematurely, nor packed off to a nursing home if you cannot yet sustain yourself at home;
- be frank and ask them who writes their paycheck and crowd-source that organization;
- inquire whether they receive a monetary “bonus” for expeditious care.
Assuring trust and confidence in your hospitalist will get you home healthy.
Gene Uzawa Dorio, M.D.
Leave a Comment