We have a few morons on another newsgroup who keep arguing
that the U.S. has "the best medical care in the world"!
(That may be true if you are among the wealthy, who can make
whatever arrangements they like, and are not dependent upon
insurance to pay for it.)  At least anywhere with
"universal" health care, emergency cases get prompt
attention - however long you must wait for hip replacements
or other "elective" surgery (meaning non-life-threatening).

Exactly right!  It isn't fair, but elderly patients receive *much* better
care if they have active (*persistent*) advocates who work on their behalf.
The exception would be those who are healthy and competent enough to act as
their own advocates, but it seems to me that the need for active
intervention rises diametricaly as people become less able to take actions
for themselves.  My mother is 91.  She lived with me and I was her sole
caretaker for 5 years.  I had to place her in a nursing home 5-1/2 years ago
when she became completely bedridden.  That was possibly the most painful
decision I have ever made.  I accept the fact that I could not give her the
same level care as a nursing home can, but I have also been very active on
her behalf.  I have made demands on many occasions where she would have
received inferior care if I had not noticed problems that staff either did
not notice or ignored.  One would think the same thing would not occur in a
hospital.  Unfortunately, it has been just as bad or worse.  A few months
ago, she was incorrectly listed as diabetic (in a local hospital)!  This was
"after hours" when another doctor was on call.  I discovered the problem,
had to argue vigorously that  discontinue must be placed on insulin until
her doctor was consulted, and did everything possible to make sure that the
incorrect diagnosis could not appear at some later date in her records.  I
was assured that there was "no way" that could happen.  It did, though!  She
was sent back to the nursing home with the incorrect diagnosis and a
prescription for insulin.  I discovered that *after* she had been given an
injection of insulin.  Moreover, when I followed the trail later, I
discovered that the director of nursing at the nursing home had contacted
the hospital because it made no sense that she was not diabetic (frequent,
routine blood tests) when she was sent to the hospital but was diabetic when
she was discharged a week later.  She was told that there was no mistake and
insulin must be adminsitered.  Fortunately, no harm was done, but this could
have been catastropic.

FYI:  I did follow up on this, going "through hoops" with the nursing home,
hospital, and her doctor.  As a direct result, the hospital has instituted a
change in procedure and held some additional training sessions.  By
coincidence, I received a certified letter yesterday from the Chief Qualify
Officer outlining steps in the review process that have been instituted by
the Quality/Peer Review Committee.  I hope this will help others who may not
be in a position be as insistent (and possibly as stubborn) as I sometimes
am.

MaryL

I talked with Mom about signing HIPPA paperwork to allow them to tell us
(outside of the banalities) her medical status.  She said she'd think about
it.  What there is to think about I don't know.  But we're all 13 hours away
from where they live.  I can rant over the phone all I want but without a
HIPPA release they can't legally tell me a damn thing.  She's home now.  Dad
called to tell me he was making clam chowder for her. (Okay, he opened up a
can ... it's a start.)  This episode scared the hell out of him.  He
couldn't make it on his own.

Jill