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Thursday, July 14, 2005
What If Doctors Were Like Contractors?
We are in the finishing stages of a kitchen remodel that was supposed to take 2-3 weeks max, but has now dragged out to over 3 months. Much of the delay has been due to the inability of contractors to live up to their word, show up when they say they will and stay long enough to do the job and do it right.
My wife (bless her pregnant soul) spent many many hours sitting at home waiting for the contractors to never show up. So did I. During those times I imagined what it would be like if I was "careless with the truth" in my line of work - doctoring.
"Let's see Mr. Jones, we'll schedule your surgery for next Monday at 9 AM. Go ahead and have your pre-op labs and x-ray done and I'll see you then."
["OK Dr. Wanderer, I'll install your cabinets on Monday at 9 A.M. You can go ahead and order the hardware and let the painter know I'll be there."]
So Mr. Jones gets a needle stuck in his arm for the labs, gets a good dose of radiation for his x-ray and takes off work for the day of the operation and five days for recovery.
[We spend a couple hours and hundred of dollars at the hardware store, and we let the painter know the cabinets will be here for him to paint on Monday morning. I take the morning off from the office, and Bella's Mom reschedules her clinic for the week.]
Monday morning Mr. Jones shows up at the hospital at 6 AM after fasting from the night before, undresses, gets placed on a gurney and is wheeled into the operating room. The staff pages me as this is going on, but I don't respond.
[We get up early to get things ready in the kitchen. Around 8 AM we call cabinet guy to confirm he's coming. We get voice mail and leave a message.]
They assume all is ok, nonetheless.
[We assume all is ok, nonetheless.]
The anesthesiologist puts Mr. Jones to sleep because I had also told Dr. Gas-Passer that I would be there at 9 AM. Mr. Jones is now fast asleep, on an anesthesia breathing machine. Another page goes out to me, but I don't respond.
[The painter arrives at 9:30 with his four man crew, and begins setting up the spray machine and loading it with paint, diluted just to the right consistency, as his crew tapes, papers and preps the kitchen. We call cabinet guy again - no answer- and his voice mail box is full.]
It's now 10:30 AM. The anesthesiologist tries to call me on my personal cell phone, but I don't answer. He decides at this point to start reversing Mr. Jones' anesthesia. Just as he's doing that, I call and say I'll be there in fifteen minutes and to hold on.
[At 10:30 AM, still no cabinet guy. We call kitchen designer guy and tell him cabinet guy is late. He says he will try to reach him. Painter says he will take half his crew to another site, and return shortly. At 11 AM, we call kitchen designer guy - says he left message for cabinet guy. We are surprised - his voicemail box is full. We try to call cabinet guy again - voicemail still full - was kitchen designer guy lying? Cabinet guy calls - says he'll be there at noon. Painter already gone.]
Its now 12 noon - Mr. Jones has been asleep since 9 AM. I have not showed up yet. Anesthesiologist has woken Mr. Jones up and has wheeled him to recovery room.
[It is 1 PM - still no cabinet guy. I leave and go to the office. It's 1:30 PM, cabinet guy calls and says he's on his way, and does Bella's Mom want him to pick up some tacos for her, cuz he's stopping for lunch.
It's 2 PM - I walk into recovery room (through a side door) and see Mr. Jones on the gurney. I ask if he can be still brought into operating room. Anesthesiologist has left. I see Mr. Jones, re-examine his knee and tell him I can't operate because the artificial knee we ordered has not arrived -they sent the wrong size. We reschedule for Thursday.
Cabinet guy shows up at our house at 3 PM, but sneaks in through the back entrance. He has two cabinet doors with him, he says the other 5 were made the wrong size and had to be reordered. He rescheduled for Thursday.
Everything you have just read in blue print actually happened, including the kind offer of tacos for lunch. These types of things happened over and over again, and not just with cabinet guy. I guess that being a professional, you come to have certain expectations of people. I guess that in medicine if someone is unreliable people can die. No one dies if your cabinets don't get installed on Monday at 9 A.M. Still, it'll definitely drive you crazy.
- posted by wanderer @ 1:19 PM
Comments:
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You left out the part where your patient drives by the downtown library and finds you drunk on the steps.
I had written something similar comparing a medical doctor visit with a trip to the auto mechanic--but that was back in the days of print publications. I'll have to russle that up for you.
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I had written something similar comparing a medical doctor visit with a trip to the auto mechanic--but that was back in the days of print publications. I'll have to russle that up for you.
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