McDonaldization of Health Care
Monday, November 29th, 2004 at 12:56 am
The McDonaldization of our society has caused everybody to expect things rather instantly — even their health care. However, personally, I would rather wait for a 5-course meal to be cooked, rather than eat McDonald's.
The wife of a patient in our emergency department didn't see it that way. She brought in her husband (of her own volition) to be evaluated for chest and abdominal pain that he had been experiencing for the past few days. After 5 hours in the ER, she became quite irate, and starting verballing harassing staff members to the point where we needed to call Security. Had her husband been sitting in a room for 5 hours without evaluation (which has happened when the ED is busy), I might have slightly understood. This was not the case — in that time her husband had been evaluated by an ER MD, received 2 EKG's, a complete laboratory workup, (including a second set of cardiac enzymes which need to be drawn 2 hours after the first set), a spiral chest CT scan, an abdominal CT scan, (for which the patient must drink CT dye over the course of 2.5-3 hours), and evaluations from two specialists - a cardiologist, and a gastroenterologist.
Sorry, but if you want this complete of an examination it will take a number of hours - no drive-through diagnosis here.
Well, at the ambulance and so far so good — 7 hours without any calls, and only 5 to go. Off to sleep now so I can be nice and refreshed for my 12 hour ED shift tomorrow.
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Lothar Says:
But sometimes people are too stupid anyways. I had the boyfriend of a patient verbally assault me yesterday because she had been waiting for 4 hours. Her complaint? Abominal pain with a history of gastric ulcer, and she had not been taking her Nexium, which is a medication used to treat this problem. When I explained that emergencies had to be treated first, like the cardiac arrest, and the 2 acute myocardial infarctions (heart attacks) currently in the department, he almost physically assaulted me. 
That lady should visit Germany…the land of free social medicine. But just remember, it’s nothing to wait 2 hours in a waiting room for your turn to see the Doc, but to be bumped and the last minute by the rich “private†(paying) patient who just walked in the door, looking at his Rolex and demanding to be seen…now! All of the sudden, “social medicine†doesn’t seem too social.