Surgeon Speaks Out Against Challenge of Working On Obese Patient

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204720204577128481569245646.html?fb_ref=wsj_share_FB


I hope this works.  (it does. I tested it. Just be sure to click the 'Ask Later' button on the pop-up so you can read the article.) There is another doctor breaking the silence. So far on Facebook there was the ER doc's note to a drug addict. How to stop seeming pitiful, how to get what you want, and not cause long expensive work ups. For example, there is no 11/10 pain while you play with your smart phone. A 7/10 makes the doc run for his mama when he had kidney stones! Here is the link: http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/sfo/301345524.html

There was my blog entry about 'is it worth it?'( On The Front Lines) This post covered the dilemma where reimbursements are going down, caseload is up, and hours are horrendous. Can I do better?

There was Lisa, a few blogs back. She was a burnt out OB who got out of managed care to save her life and her marriage. Now she treats the entire person energetically based on long questionnaires.

Now there is the surgeon. He doesn't elicit much sympathy, talking to a colon while he would rather be driving his new Porsche. Well guess what? While everyone else was partying in their twenties, having fun, this student had his nose in a book, busting his ass to get into med school, stay in it, and get accepted into a hard-to-get residency. He was delaying gratification. Now at night, with a fat patient and a very angry inflamed colon, he is having second thoughts about delaying it any more. He does the math and finds the plumber makes double the hourly rate as him!

The perfect storm is at hand. Lower reimbursements (all insurances follow Medicare rates eventually), more medico legal risk, and less time for family and recreation. With a pager and cell phone, you are always connected to the system. You can't escape.

Across the pond, the UK managed health service is having a shortage of physicians. They get paid very little. Although medical school is free, the lifestyle is not attractive. Already here in the states, desert seniors have to travel for hours to find a big city doctor who accepts medicare.

I used to think all these insurances were free. That is not the case. Medicare part A, hospital. Stuff and Part B, seeing the doctor outpatient, has a monthly fee and copayments and deductibles! And today, I could see my patient thinking, "I have good insurance, I should get the better care."

What is my insurance? Since I am self-employed, I buy my own policy for myself and my son. It is not cheap. They raise the price each year. My deductible for medications is seven hundred fifty dollars each. And for other things, such as inpatient and outpatient care, the deductible is in the thousands of dollars. Each. It is like I pay the premiums only for the lower adjusted fee schedule for service through the insurance; they don't cover much. Not even maternity. It is scary being of child bearing age and not having it. They don't offer them unless you work for a corporation. New laws may change this. Time will tell.

Where does Reiki fit into this? Theoretically, like Hawayo Takata, surgery can be avoided. Remember, she is the one who walked off the operating table for a cholecystectomy and got better by weeks of Reiki instead. I may add that back then, the cholecystectomy was a very big surgery with an incision under the ribs on the right that took a long recovery and was not without risk. With Reiki, there is very little overhead or expense. Big Industry can't get their fingers on it, yet. Due to the spiritual nature of it, I don't think they will. In the future as I see it, disease will be a thing of the past, as also will energetic imbalances. When will that happen? I don't know. I look forward to it though. I really do.

Namaste,

Reiki Doc