Messed up situation with a hospital (not ebola related)

I worked at a hospital for a very short time. I had to quit because the place drove me crazy. I'm guessing there are some good hospitals out there but there are also some hospitals with "crazy ways". At the hospital I worked at one of the most blaringly ridiculous things was that once a patient was admitted to the floor I was working on, trying to figure out the Dr. to call for basic orders like the patient's current medications or even pain medication was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. It was so bad that I lost my mind trying to figure out why it was so hard to figure out how to get basic Dr's orders for my patients. It reminds me of the line in Shawshank Redemption, "are you just being obtuse or is this intentional?"

As has been reported by "whistleblowers" in other institutions lately, complaining about "bad ways" or pointing out obvious problems get you in the not so pleasant position of being ridiculed and alienated. Bad culture leads to bad outcomes. Just my story of what I saw...not sure if this has anything to do with the problem you speak of.

Thank you for that input!

It is just so bizarre - first, the Dr. on staff told my sister they had to wait for the swelling to go down before they could operate, and they were either going to send him home or to a rehab facility until that happened. Then the Dr. decided he wasn't going to do the surgery at all and put in a release order and told my sister she would have to find a Dr on her own.

It just seems odd to me, since it was a car accident and he was taken there by ambulance and he did not just walk in off the street with a pain in his leg demanding to be admitted into the ER. How can they refuse treatment to a patient?? I don't know - it seems our medical care is going downhill fast.

Insurance through what company? If he has say Kaiser their rule is that their patients are to be shipped to one of their hospitals for care as soon at the patient is stable... Mind stable has a surprisingly wide unclear definitions.

I have known of other insurance companies who tell their doctors 'you can't do X' when doctors feel that its the very best course of treatment.

Rules upon rules upon rules some to save the insurance company money, most are to stave off Malpractice suits.

As for swelling. Yes that affects a lot of surgeries. As long as there isn't an immediate need for surgery, it is often best to wait a short period of time (1-2 days) before surgery.

As for sending a patient home with broken bones with nothing done - that one completely falls outside of my experience. Never seen that.

Sent to another hospital - yes. A temporary cast put on with referral to a bone surgeon - yes.

In fact with complex fractures patients sometimes have to wait a week before surgery and basically during the surgery the surgeon re-breaks the bone to reset it. However there is really no alternative as swelling, bruising and other issues can make surgery difficult. The patient gets to go home if the bone can be placed in a cast - if no casting is possible the patient meets Mr. Bed Pan and a hospital stay.

They are at least stabilizing the break before sending him home like a temporary cast?

If not, then order them to order an ambulance move to another hospital one that you know will deal with his insurance.

The operative word to use is Malpractice. Start throwing that word out as in 'This is a case of malpractice and I will sue.'

That one word has great power.

Thank you! Yes, that was my thought, that the hospital and/or Dr will not take their insurance. That or they do not have a Dr. competent enough to do the surgery. I would have hoped that they would at least be up front and say that. They are kind of just dropping him into my sisters lap and saying good luck finding a Dr. I feel bad for my sister and I am 1800 miles away, so I can't be much assistance to her. With the good information and advice I am getting here, at least I can offer something.

Tell her to call the biggest or best Orthopaedic practice around and ask where they want him.

Then take him to that ER and ask for THOSE doctors.

Tell her to give them her insurance info over the phone and double check that they take it.