Over the past two days I have spent several hours at the hospital (not for me). Sometimes I drive other people there.
It was a bit of visiting cancerland on Wednesday as I was in the infusion area. One of the nurses asked me if it was weird to be back there and brought flashbacks. I said not really as its been long enough. And that is true. I am okay with it and it doesn't bring huge flashbacks. As long as I am not the one in the big chair with the IV in my arm.
Yesterday I was getting us tea in the cafeteria, there was a woman in front of me in line wearing a pink and white striped shirt, with a pink baseball hat over her bald head. She was clearly ready for Pinktober. And comfortable showing the world her ailment.
While waiting in the radiology department, we all got a snicker as a man walked out of the dressing room and brought his shirt and shoes to his wife. I could understand the shirt but not the shoes. Why walk in stocking feet in the hospital? Icky.
Later, in the lobby there was a woman in dressed in a hospital gown at the ATM machine with her IV pole. She was clearly a patient who went out for a walk to get some cash so she could go shopping at the gift shop. (Mental note to self, bring debit card for shopping at next inpatient stay.)
I made some small joke about taking an IV pole out for a daily walk as she went by. She replied with "they don't talk back and you can take them anywhere". Very true.
Enough hospitals for this week. I think all my appointments start next week. Crap.
Showing posts with label hospital. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hospital. Show all posts
Saturday, September 5, 2015
Saturday, July 18, 2015
VA Hospitals
The message here is do not go to a VA hospital. Especially for cancer care.
I find this appalling. We send men and women off to war and they are supposed to receive their medical care at VA hospitals around the country. What do they get? Poor and delayed care. And this results in deaths. The waits are twice what they are at other hospitals.
The saddest part of the video above is that there are probably so many more stories like this.
What is going on at the VA hospitals? Bureaucracy? Paperwork? Employees who don't care? No sense of urgency? I don't know but you won't catch me near one. Yesterday I blogged about the best hospitals, now these are some of the worst as far as I am concerned.
I find this appalling. We send men and women off to war and they are supposed to receive their medical care at VA hospitals around the country. What do they get? Poor and delayed care. And this results in deaths. The waits are twice what they are at other hospitals.
The saddest part of the video above is that there are probably so many more stories like this.
What is going on at the VA hospitals? Bureaucracy? Paperwork? Employees who don't care? No sense of urgency? I don't know but you won't catch me near one. Yesterday I blogged about the best hospitals, now these are some of the worst as far as I am concerned.
Friday, July 17, 2015
The Best Hospitals
US News and World Report just released its annual list of the best hospitals in the US. The hospital I go to is not in the top ten.
And I am not concerned. I mean what is the benefit of going to one of the top 10 hospitals inthe US? My bet is it comes down to two issues:
I have been told by someone who worked at one of the big name Boston hospitals that unless you are related to a senator, you can expect a long wait to get in to see a doctor. And a recent study of Boston hospitals showed that the big name hospitals offered the highest fees.
With all my medical crap, I am very comfortable with the medical care I receive at Lahey Medical Center which is ten minutes from home.And that recent study of fees in metro Boston put it near the bottom of that list.
My only complaint with the hospital is that I am there too damn often.
And I am not concerned. I mean what is the benefit of going to one of the top 10 hospitals inthe US? My bet is it comes down to two issues:
- More expensive bills
- Longer waits for appointments.
I have been told by someone who worked at one of the big name Boston hospitals that unless you are related to a senator, you can expect a long wait to get in to see a doctor. And a recent study of Boston hospitals showed that the big name hospitals offered the highest fees.
With all my medical crap, I am very comfortable with the medical care I receive at Lahey Medical Center which is ten minutes from home.And that recent study of fees in metro Boston put it near the bottom of that list.
My only complaint with the hospital is that I am there too damn often.
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
How expensive is your hospital?
I had no idea how expensive my hospital, Lahey Health (formerly known as Lahey Clinic) is compared to other hospitals. Its one of those hidden numbers that your insurance company and hospital conspire to keep unknown as they negotiate rates and fees.
I live just outside Boston, which is home to a few big name hospitals, and refuse to go into the city for treatment. The traffic would drive me crazy. And if I am not feeling well, I refuse to deal with the traffic and feel like crap at the same time.
I have friends who went into the city for treatment and whined about all the traffic they sat in and how early in the day they would have to start to get to a 9am infusion. I just assumed all hospitals cost about the same - namely a hell of a lot because nothing is cheap around here.
But now I know... and drum roll... its 12%-40% less than the big hospitals with the fancy names in town. They have a strategy of creating a network of community hospitals where most patients can go for care leaving the big teaching hospital for the sickest people. (Guess which one I go to?) They have been expanding their network over recent years.
Here is a comparison of the costs from 2012 for an inpatient stay.
I live just outside Boston, which is home to a few big name hospitals, and refuse to go into the city for treatment. The traffic would drive me crazy. And if I am not feeling well, I refuse to deal with the traffic and feel like crap at the same time.
I have friends who went into the city for treatment and whined about all the traffic they sat in and how early in the day they would have to start to get to a 9am infusion. I just assumed all hospitals cost about the same - namely a hell of a lot because nothing is cheap around here.
But now I know... and drum roll... its 12%-40% less than the big hospitals with the fancy names in town. They have a strategy of creating a network of community hospitals where most patients can go for care leaving the big teaching hospital for the sickest people. (Guess which one I go to?) They have been expanding their network over recent years.
Here is a comparison of the costs from 2012 for an inpatient stay.
The two hospitals that are lower than Lahey are located away from metropolitan Boston.
I will say I am happy to learn my medical care is not straining my insurance plan as much as if I went in town. And I am happier to enjoy my 10-12 minute drive through back roads with no traffic to medical care.
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Leading by example
You know when you go to your doctor and they tell you to eat a healthy diet and you stop at the cafeteria for lunch before your next appointment and they offer fried chicken and fries with a danish for dessert. Well now that is starting to change. The newest trend for hospitals is to become healthier themselves.
No more Dunkin Donuts in the hospital lobby for one. No more fried anything for most. This is part of a new initiative started in 2012 nationally to make hospitals healthier instead of contributing to chronic illness through unhealthy food options. This includes reducing red meat consumption and providing more vegetarian and fish options. Hospitals are also encouraged to try to source food locally. Some have even started rooftop gardens.
In addition, hospitals are taking steps to reduce waste, use of toxic chemicals, more efficient heating and cooling systems, safer chemicals in cleaning products, and increased recycling efforts.
I am very happy to hear this as this is a trend toward 'practicing what they preach' instead of 'do as I say, not as I do'.
I have noticed this at the local hospital where I go. They provide water stations through out the building where patients, visitors and staff can refill water bottles or provided paper cups. Recycling bins are evident. Food choices are leaning toward healthier choices and the cafeteria salad bar has expanded greatly. I had a yummy salad there the other day which was full of sunflower seeds and other healthy options.
This should be the way of the future. I would hope to see all these efforts visible at hospitals nationally and at other commercial and industrial buildings.
No more Dunkin Donuts in the hospital lobby for one. No more fried anything for most. This is part of a new initiative started in 2012 nationally to make hospitals healthier instead of contributing to chronic illness through unhealthy food options. This includes reducing red meat consumption and providing more vegetarian and fish options. Hospitals are also encouraged to try to source food locally. Some have even started rooftop gardens.
In addition, hospitals are taking steps to reduce waste, use of toxic chemicals, more efficient heating and cooling systems, safer chemicals in cleaning products, and increased recycling efforts.
I am very happy to hear this as this is a trend toward 'practicing what they preach' instead of 'do as I say, not as I do'.
I have noticed this at the local hospital where I go. They provide water stations through out the building where patients, visitors and staff can refill water bottles or provided paper cups. Recycling bins are evident. Food choices are leaning toward healthier choices and the cafeteria salad bar has expanded greatly. I had a yummy salad there the other day which was full of sunflower seeds and other healthy options.
This should be the way of the future. I would hope to see all these efforts visible at hospitals nationally and at other commercial and industrial buildings.
Monday, January 19, 2015
Hospital visitors
When I am hospitalized, I have a list of people who can visit me. They include my husband, my parents, and my siblings. Anyone else has to call and ask. I am serious about this. If people visit unannounced, they will find out how rude I can really be.
My strong feelings about this are due to the fact that once, after a significant surgery, a friend had to stop at the hospital for an early morning appointment, the day after my surgery. So she decided to stop by my room at 830am. I was not ready for guests.
I was talking to someone who was a friend and a nurse who was giving me some information. I did not want to socialize. She didn't understand the concept of good manners and to think that the morning after major surgery might be a bad time to visit someone.
When I am in the hospital:
Its not that I don't want visitors at all - they do help the time go by - but my goal is to get better enough so I can leave as soon as possible. If I can't get my naps in, I won't be able to get better. I find the concept of visiting people in the hospital for hours on end to be a bit ridiculous.
I actually feel sorry for the patient's whose families come to visit and stay for hours in big groups. If you are sick enough to be in the hospital, you don't want to host a party, you probably want to take a nap.
There is a hospital in Hawaii which has started the policy of visiting hours 24/7 and let the patients set their visiting times. This was done at patient request citing a study that found that people surrounded by family and friends heal faster and cope with their hospital stay better.
At first I was pretty appalled by this. But then I started to think.
There are lots of people who work odd shifts or have child care issues or travel distances or work nights and I can go on and on that have off hour schedules normally and are used to getting a lot of sleep during the day wherever they are so why should hospital visitation be any different?
Hospitals are where they wake you up for a sleeping pill or to take your blood and vital signs at 2am. So you might as well have a friend hang out with you for it.
My strong feelings about this are due to the fact that once, after a significant surgery, a friend had to stop at the hospital for an early morning appointment, the day after my surgery. So she decided to stop by my room at 830am. I was not ready for guests.
I was talking to someone who was a friend and a nurse who was giving me some information. I did not want to socialize. She didn't understand the concept of good manners and to think that the morning after major surgery might be a bad time to visit someone.
When I am in the hospital:
- I probably feel like crap.
- I probably look like crap.
- I am probably cranky.
Its not that I don't want visitors at all - they do help the time go by - but my goal is to get better enough so I can leave as soon as possible. If I can't get my naps in, I won't be able to get better. I find the concept of visiting people in the hospital for hours on end to be a bit ridiculous.
I actually feel sorry for the patient's whose families come to visit and stay for hours in big groups. If you are sick enough to be in the hospital, you don't want to host a party, you probably want to take a nap.
There is a hospital in Hawaii which has started the policy of visiting hours 24/7 and let the patients set their visiting times. This was done at patient request citing a study that found that people surrounded by family and friends heal faster and cope with their hospital stay better.
At first I was pretty appalled by this. But then I started to think.
There are lots of people who work odd shifts or have child care issues or travel distances or work nights and I can go on and on that have off hour schedules normally and are used to getting a lot of sleep during the day wherever they are so why should hospital visitation be any different?
Hospitals are where they wake you up for a sleeping pill or to take your blood and vital signs at 2am. So you might as well have a friend hang out with you for it.
Sunday, January 18, 2015
So are you an inpatient or an outpatient?
The hospital and Medicare get to decide. Not your doctor who is actually treating you.
I found this pretty appalling. Medicare patients can be in the hospital for DAYS and be called and an outpatient because they are only being 'observed'. They get the same care as everyone else. But then they get a big fat bill if they were an outpatient.
Their doctor can even admit them and make them an inpatient but then the hospital can change it back to outpatient. Hospitals like this because they get reimbursed more that way.
"Medicare originally intended observation care as a way to give doctors time to evaluate whether a patient should be admitted to the hospital or is stable enough to go home, usually within 24 to 48 hours. But hospitals are increasingly keeping patients in observation status longer: 8 percent of Medicare recipients had observation stays longer than 48 hours in 2011, up from 3 percent in 2006.
Apparently the government can tell by looking at a rule book to figure out how sick you are, not but diagnosing you and reading your chart. Or, God forbid, even talking to you.
That increase may partly be a response to aggressive reviews of hospital billing practices in recent years. Medicare contractors have demanded refunds from hospitals that admit patients the government believes should have been treated as observation patients or outpatients. Medicare pays hospitals less for those patients."
And also hospitals are now rated on their readmission rates. If you aren't admitted the first time, you are not readmitted later on.
"Toby Edelman, senior policy attorney at the Center for Medicare Advocacy in Washington, D.C., said she believes hospitals also could be trying to avoid readmission penalties, which are assessed if too many patients are readmitted within 30 days. Harold Engler, for example, went home after five days, grew sicker, and then returned for another five-day observation stay. If he had been an inpatient, he would have counted as a readmission within 30 days."
Hospitals claim they are working on it because they computer tells them what to do. The computer even knows more than the government:
"Dr. James Hart, who heads a Beth Israel Deaconess committee that makes sure the hospital follows Medicare rules, said he could not comment on Engler’s case. But he said the hospital uses a sophisticated computer program that tries to match patients with the correct Medicare designation based on their illness and the intensity of hospital services required. “We are very focused on getting the level of care accurate,’’ he said."
Medicare knows this is a problem and even has created a brochure on this telling patients the difference. But if you are sick in bed, do you really care about semantics? No.
"Case managers generally inform patients of their status, especially if they require skilled nursing care, he said. But that doesn’t mean patients digest the information, at a time when they have so much to focus on. “Part of the challenge from a patient perspective is there really is an information overload,’’ Hart said."
You just want to feel better and go home where you can be in your own bed eating real food instead of the crappy hospital food they serve.
I knew Medicare had its issues but I didn't think it was out to impoverish seniors. I thought it was supposed to be the other way around. Clearly some changes need to be made here.
Update: 8/30/13 - One of the former heads of Medicare wants the rule on observation to be abolished.
I found this pretty appalling. Medicare patients can be in the hospital for DAYS and be called and an outpatient because they are only being 'observed'. They get the same care as everyone else. But then they get a big fat bill if they were an outpatient.
Their doctor can even admit them and make them an inpatient but then the hospital can change it back to outpatient. Hospitals like this because they get reimbursed more that way.
"Medicare originally intended observation care as a way to give doctors time to evaluate whether a patient should be admitted to the hospital or is stable enough to go home, usually within 24 to 48 hours. But hospitals are increasingly keeping patients in observation status longer: 8 percent of Medicare recipients had observation stays longer than 48 hours in 2011, up from 3 percent in 2006.
Apparently the government can tell by looking at a rule book to figure out how sick you are, not but diagnosing you and reading your chart. Or, God forbid, even talking to you.
That increase may partly be a response to aggressive reviews of hospital billing practices in recent years. Medicare contractors have demanded refunds from hospitals that admit patients the government believes should have been treated as observation patients or outpatients. Medicare pays hospitals less for those patients."
And also hospitals are now rated on their readmission rates. If you aren't admitted the first time, you are not readmitted later on.
"Toby Edelman, senior policy attorney at the Center for Medicare Advocacy in Washington, D.C., said she believes hospitals also could be trying to avoid readmission penalties, which are assessed if too many patients are readmitted within 30 days. Harold Engler, for example, went home after five days, grew sicker, and then returned for another five-day observation stay. If he had been an inpatient, he would have counted as a readmission within 30 days."
Hospitals claim they are working on it because they computer tells them what to do. The computer even knows more than the government:
"Dr. James Hart, who heads a Beth Israel Deaconess committee that makes sure the hospital follows Medicare rules, said he could not comment on Engler’s case. But he said the hospital uses a sophisticated computer program that tries to match patients with the correct Medicare designation based on their illness and the intensity of hospital services required. “We are very focused on getting the level of care accurate,’’ he said."
Medicare knows this is a problem and even has created a brochure on this telling patients the difference. But if you are sick in bed, do you really care about semantics? No.
"Case managers generally inform patients of their status, especially if they require skilled nursing care, he said. But that doesn’t mean patients digest the information, at a time when they have so much to focus on. “Part of the challenge from a patient perspective is there really is an information overload,’’ Hart said."
You just want to feel better and go home where you can be in your own bed eating real food instead of the crappy hospital food they serve.
I knew Medicare had its issues but I didn't think it was out to impoverish seniors. I thought it was supposed to be the other way around. Clearly some changes need to be made here.
Update: 8/30/13 - One of the former heads of Medicare wants the rule on observation to be abolished.
VA Hospitals
The message here is do not go to a VA hospital. Especially for cancer care.
I find this appalling. We send men and women off to war and they are supposed to receive their medical care at VA hospitals around the country. What do they get? Poor and delayed care. And this results in deaths. The waits are twice what they are at other hospitals.
The saddest part of the video above is that there are probably so many more stories like this.
What is going on at the VA hospitals? Bureaucracy? Paperwork? Employees who don't care? No sense of urgency? I don't know but you won't catch me near one. Yesterday I blogged about the best hospitals, now these are some of the worst as far as I am concerned.
I find this appalling. We send men and women off to war and they are supposed to receive their medical care at VA hospitals around the country. What do they get? Poor and delayed care. And this results in deaths. The waits are twice what they are at other hospitals.
The saddest part of the video above is that there are probably so many more stories like this.
What is going on at the VA hospitals? Bureaucracy? Paperwork? Employees who don't care? No sense of urgency? I don't know but you won't catch me near one. Yesterday I blogged about the best hospitals, now these are some of the worst as far as I am concerned.
Saturday, January 17, 2015
The Best Hospitals
US News and World Report just released its annual list of the best hospitals in the US. The hospital I go to is not in the top ten.
And I am not concerned. I mean what is the benefit of going to one of the top 10 hospitals inthe US? My bet is it comes down to two issues:
I have been told by someone who worked at one of the big name Boston hospitals that unless you are related to a senator, you can expect a long wait to get in to see a doctor. And a recent study of Boston hospitals showed that the big name hospitals offered the highest fees.
With all my medical crap, I am very comfortable with the medical care I receive at Lahey Medical Center which is ten minutes from home.And that recent study of fees in metro Boston put it near the bottom of that list.
My only complaint with the hospital is that I am there too damn often.
And I am not concerned. I mean what is the benefit of going to one of the top 10 hospitals inthe US? My bet is it comes down to two issues:
- More expensive bills
- Longer waits for appointments.
I have been told by someone who worked at one of the big name Boston hospitals that unless you are related to a senator, you can expect a long wait to get in to see a doctor. And a recent study of Boston hospitals showed that the big name hospitals offered the highest fees.
With all my medical crap, I am very comfortable with the medical care I receive at Lahey Medical Center which is ten minutes from home.And that recent study of fees in metro Boston put it near the bottom of that list.
My only complaint with the hospital is that I am there too damn often.
Monday, January 5, 2015
A day at the hospital
Over the past two days I have spent several hours at the hospital (not for me). Sometimes I drive other people there.
It was a bit of visiting cancerland on Wednesday as I was in the infusion area. One of the nurses asked me if it was weird to be back there and brought flashbacks. I said not really as its been long enough. And that is true. I am okay with it and it doesn't bring huge flashbacks. As long as I am not the one in the big chair with the IV in my arm.
Yesterday I was getting us tea in the cafeteria, there was a woman in front of me in line wearing a pink and white striped shirt, with a pink baseball hat over her bald head. She was clearly ready for Pinktober. And comfortable showing the world her ailment.
While waiting in the radiology department, we all got a snicker as a man walked out of the dressing room and brought his shirt and shoes to his wife. I could understand the shirt but not the shoes. Why walk in stocking feet in the hospital? Icky.
Later, in the lobby there was a woman in dressed in a hospital gown at the ATM machine with her IV pole. She was clearly a patient who went out for a walk to get some cash so she could go shopping at the gift shop. (Mental note to self, bring debit card for shopping at next inpatient stay.)
I made some small joke about taking an IV pole out for a daily walk as she went by. She replied with "they don't talk back and you can take them anywhere". Very true.
Enough hospitals for this week. I think all my appointments start next week. Crap.
It was a bit of visiting cancerland on Wednesday as I was in the infusion area. One of the nurses asked me if it was weird to be back there and brought flashbacks. I said not really as its been long enough. And that is true. I am okay with it and it doesn't bring huge flashbacks. As long as I am not the one in the big chair with the IV in my arm.
Yesterday I was getting us tea in the cafeteria, there was a woman in front of me in line wearing a pink and white striped shirt, with a pink baseball hat over her bald head. She was clearly ready for Pinktober. And comfortable showing the world her ailment.
While waiting in the radiology department, we all got a snicker as a man walked out of the dressing room and brought his shirt and shoes to his wife. I could understand the shirt but not the shoes. Why walk in stocking feet in the hospital? Icky.
Later, in the lobby there was a woman in dressed in a hospital gown at the ATM machine with her IV pole. She was clearly a patient who went out for a walk to get some cash so she could go shopping at the gift shop. (Mental note to self, bring debit card for shopping at next inpatient stay.)
I made some small joke about taking an IV pole out for a daily walk as she went by. She replied with "they don't talk back and you can take them anywhere". Very true.
Enough hospitals for this week. I think all my appointments start next week. Crap.
Sunday, January 4, 2015
The patient hand off
How many times have you been the patient and been handed off from one shift to the next? And how often does that happen in a slightly overheard conversation between one nurse and the next or one doctor to the next? There never seems to be a formal system of it and it always seems to be rushed. It is a key place where misunderstandings over a patient's care can occur which result in medical errors.
I have learned things about my care from hearing the nurse tell the next nurse that my gall bladder surgery did result in some fairly significant internal bruising during the surgery. The nurse had previously told me that it wasn't that bad and should clear up in a day or two. I also learned that during my knee surgery I had become agitated during the surgery for an unknown reason and should be watched in case I was having a problem with the anesthesia. During a hospitalization I learned that I was doing well but my pain levels were running a little high (I already could tell them that).
Little rushed conversations in the corner or on the side of a busy hallway while updating a patient's file are not in the best interest of the patient. Especially if the nurse tells the next nurse about several patients without time for note taking - can you say confusion?
Children's Hospital in Boston has come up with a team approach where the full team participates. This has cut medical errors in half. Maybe I should be a kid again and go there for my next procedure? Or I hope that other hospitals follow suit.
I have learned things about my care from hearing the nurse tell the next nurse that my gall bladder surgery did result in some fairly significant internal bruising during the surgery. The nurse had previously told me that it wasn't that bad and should clear up in a day or two. I also learned that during my knee surgery I had become agitated during the surgery for an unknown reason and should be watched in case I was having a problem with the anesthesia. During a hospitalization I learned that I was doing well but my pain levels were running a little high (I already could tell them that).
Little rushed conversations in the corner or on the side of a busy hallway while updating a patient's file are not in the best interest of the patient. Especially if the nurse tells the next nurse about several patients without time for note taking - can you say confusion?
Children's Hospital in Boston has come up with a team approach where the full team participates. This has cut medical errors in half. Maybe I should be a kid again and go there for my next procedure? Or I hope that other hospitals follow suit.
Friday, January 2, 2015
Leading by example
You know when you go to your doctor and they tell you to eat a healthy diet and you stop at the cafeteria for lunch before your next appointment and they offer fried chicken and fries with a danish for dessert. Well now that is starting to change. The newest trend for hospitals is to become healthier themselves.
No more Dunkin Donuts in the hospital lobby for one. No more fried anything for most. This is part of a new initiative started in 2012 nationally to make hospitals healthier instead of contributing to chronic illness through unhealthy food options. This includes reducing red meat consumption and providing more vegetarian and fish options. Hospitals are also encouraged to try to source food locally. Some have even started rooftop gardens.
In addition, hospitals are taking steps to reduce waste, use of toxic chemicals, more efficient heating and cooling systems, safer chemicals in cleaning products, and increased recycling efforts.
I am very happy to hear this as this is a trend toward 'practicing what they preach' instead of 'do as I say, not as I do'.
I have noticed this at the local hospital where I go. They provide water stations through out the building where patients, visitors and staff can refill water bottles or provided paper cups. Recycling bins are evident. Food choices are leaning toward healthier choices and the cafeteria salad bar has expanded greatly. I had a yummy salad there the other day which was full of sunflower seeds and other healthy options.
This should be the way of the future. I would hope to see all these efforts visible at hospitals nationally and at other commercial and industrial buildings.
No more Dunkin Donuts in the hospital lobby for one. No more fried anything for most. This is part of a new initiative started in 2012 nationally to make hospitals healthier instead of contributing to chronic illness through unhealthy food options. This includes reducing red meat consumption and providing more vegetarian and fish options. Hospitals are also encouraged to try to source food locally. Some have even started rooftop gardens.
In addition, hospitals are taking steps to reduce waste, use of toxic chemicals, more efficient heating and cooling systems, safer chemicals in cleaning products, and increased recycling efforts.
I am very happy to hear this as this is a trend toward 'practicing what they preach' instead of 'do as I say, not as I do'.
I have noticed this at the local hospital where I go. They provide water stations through out the building where patients, visitors and staff can refill water bottles or provided paper cups. Recycling bins are evident. Food choices are leaning toward healthier choices and the cafeteria salad bar has expanded greatly. I had a yummy salad there the other day which was full of sunflower seeds and other healthy options.
This should be the way of the future. I would hope to see all these efforts visible at hospitals nationally and at other commercial and industrial buildings.
How expensive is your hospital?
I had no idea how expensive my hospital, Lahey Health (formerly known as Lahey Clinic) is compared to other hospitals. Its one of those hidden numbers that your insurance company and hospital conspire to keep unknown as they negotiate rates and fees.
I live just outside Boston, which is home to a few big name hospitals, and refuse to go into the city for treatment. The traffic would drive me crazy. And if I am not feeling well, I refuse to deal with the traffic and feel like crap at the same time.
I have friends who went into the city for treatment and whined about all the traffic they sat in and how early in the day they would have to start to get to a 9am infusion. I just assumed all hospitals cost about the same - namely a hell of a lot because nothing is cheap around here.
But now I know... and drum roll... its 12%-40% less than the big hospitals with the fancy names in town. They have a strategy of creating a network of community hospitals where most patients can go for care leaving the big teaching hospital for the sickest people. (Guess which one I go to?) They have been expanding their network over recent years.
Here is a comparison of the costs from 2012 for an inpatient stay.
I live just outside Boston, which is home to a few big name hospitals, and refuse to go into the city for treatment. The traffic would drive me crazy. And if I am not feeling well, I refuse to deal with the traffic and feel like crap at the same time.
I have friends who went into the city for treatment and whined about all the traffic they sat in and how early in the day they would have to start to get to a 9am infusion. I just assumed all hospitals cost about the same - namely a hell of a lot because nothing is cheap around here.
But now I know... and drum roll... its 12%-40% less than the big hospitals with the fancy names in town. They have a strategy of creating a network of community hospitals where most patients can go for care leaving the big teaching hospital for the sickest people. (Guess which one I go to?) They have been expanding their network over recent years.
Here is a comparison of the costs from 2012 for an inpatient stay.
The two hospitals that are lower than Lahey are located away from metropolitan Boston.
I will say I am happy to learn my medical care is not straining my insurance plan as much as if I went in town. And I am happier to enjoy my 10-12 minute drive through back roads with no traffic to medical care.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)