That's Frowned Upon

So my 2 weeks on the coast have been cool. Dr. Rub is cool and laid back. The rest of the docs are great as well. The only problem I have is I feel like I'm being held back a bit, but I've just started doing my thing and it seems cool with him. All in all I'm enjoying family medicine. The clinic is full of personalities and the running quote seems to be "that's frowned upon". They all crack me up. I've become a pro at flu swabs, flu injections, and HbA1C checks. Although it does slow me down to document all of it, but I understand how it's necessary for the program and blah blah.

I haven't done as much as I had wanted down here, especially since it's been channeling Seattle and raining at least once a day, if not 5-7 times. I still need to drive down the beach, get some sand between my toes, and perhaps make it out to one of the barrier islands. I'm not sure if I'll make it to the New Orleans Aquarium or the Mobile battleship, but maybe I can. I'll be home this weekend to say bye to my mom before she leaves for Italy so that takes out some possible trip time. If not, I can always come down and visit my friend and do some of the things I may just not get around to. However, I did get to eat my crab legs so I'm all set for now. hah.

Warning: if you are a fan of Obama or his health care policy, quit reading.
*start rant*
So with the little free time we get in clinic, I've been talking with my preceptor about the future of medicine. "Free" Healthcare. Let me ask you something: when has anything in this country been free? The only two things in America that are free is speech and will. I'm tired of this notion that magically we won't have insurance premiums and copays. Do you know what all the other countries do to pay for "free" healthcare? They raise taxes. THAT is how they get the money to fund healthcare. Use whatever brain cells you have bouncing around in your head, rub them together, and make the connection. Bitching about $4 a gallon gas? How about when it goes up to $8 a gallon. Oh, and angry that 40% of your paycheck goes to taxes? Try 60%. OH! BUT HEALTHCARE IS FREE!
Health care is not a right. Just like I don't have the right to walk into a store and demand free Prada. This country was built upon the notion of an open market with competition and democracy to fuel development. Whenever monopolies occured, they were quick to step in and open the market back up to prevent such things. Same for healthcare. Monopolies of insurance companies have caused the price of healthcare to skyrocket, paired along with the uninsured receiving healthcare (if you say that's what the healthcare reform will fix I'll automatically set your IQ score to 10) without paying for it, and the sue happy lawyers creating a new entity known as defensive medicine. I'd really like to see how much of a yearly hospital budget is spent ordering tests just to rule IN a disease. Also, how many times have I (and my insurance company) been billed two or three times for the exact same test? That is just the hospital trying to make up for the fact that the crackhead walked into the OR and got treatment and then walked back out without paying a dime. Medicine is a business. Plain and simple.
So, if I have all these strong opinions then where is my bright idea to fix healthcare?
1. reign in the insurance companies. Open insurance across state lines. This will drive the cost down by sole competition. If an insurance company in Alabama is better than Louisiana, then buy the Alabama insurance. Health insurance as it stands is a monopoly of 2-3 lone companies. Places like Alabama have a monopoly owned by Blue Cross and Blue shield. Open it up so the insurance companies will be fighting for YOUR business instead of the other way around
2. Stop the lawsuits. We have something called the Medical licensing board. If a patient things that a doctor was unfit to treat their loved one, the bring it before the board. Instead of suing the doctor and driving upmalpractice insurance which causes higher costs for treating a patient, take it to the board. if the doctor really is at fault for negligence then his/her license will be revoked. And that physician will never be able to treat anyone else again. But I guess money is more important than seeing that the physician never harms anyone else again. If anything, mandatory tort reform (which, for the Obama supporters that continued to read despite warning, Obama DOES NOT support. he thinks you should be sued for every penny you're worth. which sometimes is a negative vaule seeing how many physicians are still in debt from medical school). Consequently, capping or stopping lawsuits will eliminate a lot of the defensive medicine. which includes extra costs for hiring the sheer manpower needed to file and process paperwork (which will only get worse if nationalized healthcare occurs)
3. No more free rides. Sure, if someone is in a car accident then bring them into the ER. The people who come to the ER when their problems can be solved by a primary care physician should be turned away. Because the $2o0 bill you're going to rack up and then end up leaving without paying is more expensive than the $75 charge by a PCP to tell you to take some zyrtec. And this bullshit of bringing a kid to the ER at 3 am for an earache that has been present for the last 2 days (and hasn't gone to a pediatrician yet) needs to stop. Step 1: take away kid Step 2: escort parent out of the ER. This alone could drive down the costs, ER crowding, and hospitals driving up costs to cover for those they don't get reimbursed.
Ok...that doesn't cover all my ideas, but just some that i"ve been having the past few days. Basically, it's like me walking into a lawyer's office and telling them they're doing everything wrong and THIS is how it should be done. Oh, and try to tell a lawyer that they don't need to charge for their time and they'll just receive a flat salary per year then get out of that office without being punched in the face. What we have are a bunch of lawyers and politicians deciding how Medicine should be handled and executed. Ones who tell us the process of diagnosis and treatment without EVER suffering through one gross anatomy lab or a sleepless night surrounded by pharmacology flashcards. These are the people America is trusting to take care of healthcare? Not doctors, but politicians. I guess the next time you have a runny nose just call up your local state representative.
Just think, America.
*end rant*

I'm pretty pumped about the Grey's premiere tomorrow night. I'm glad that the lady I'm staying with is also a Grey's fan so I can catch the episode.

Two letters-I can't wait for our date
Laura-your updates thrill me to no end. And that pic of you as a child giving the camera the classic "go to hell look" makes me laugh.