What to do when the doctors keep changing?
Today was an exhausting day for me. My mother had an appointment with her PCP at the geriatric clinic. I got the feeling that the doctor didn't have a clue on anything to do to help my mother. The more the doctor talked, the more tired I became. I got the impression she didn't think that I was doing enough -- that I should be spending my days making sure she was active and entertained, and that I should spend my nights monitoring her activities. She did the normal recommendations that we hear for older people, but she didn't know my mother at all.
My mother's regular PCP retired over two years ago, so we switched to a geriatrician in a clinic, who went immediately on maternity leave. My mother was seen by whoever was available until her PCP returned from leave. Then there were two visits before the PCP told us she was moving to another state. She turned us over to a new PCP in the clinic. She doesn't seem to understand old people at all, particularly not my mother.
At the end of the appointment I realized that it was wasted time. My mother was more confused than ever and couldn't figure out which way to go to even get out. I was more confused, because I don't even know what the doctor recommended. Besides, I felt she was clueless about how to help.
Mom and I went out to eat, then came home. I slept the rest of the afternoon and woke up, still exhausted from the doctor visit. It seemed almost too much to get her medicines ready and take the trash out. I was that tired. Hoping for a better day tomorrow.
I am getting tired of teaching new doctors about my mother. Doctors are so unstable now, moving from place to place. I wish it were like the old days when doctors hung up their shingles at their offices and stayed there. This hospital-associated doctor thing gets tiresome fast when the staff is not stable.
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Today, doctors either spend a considerable amount of time entering data into a computer, or must hire a person to follow them around all day making the entries. A new criticism is that the doctor spends his time looking at a computer screen instead of focusing on the patient during a visit. Reduced reimbursements mean that doctors must see more patients each day to meet expenses. No wonder it is harder for doctors to get to know their patients. The changing personnel that Jessiebelle is talking about is often the result of doctors changing groups for a better lifestyle due to pressure to meet production quotas. I hate that medicine has become so focused on the bottom line and not on patient care.
I also struggle with taking my mom to her PCP. She lives in an assisted living facility, but I still spend about four hours getting her ready, driving her to the appointment, waiting, seeing the doctor, getting lab work done, driving her back home and getting myself home. Then she is more confused for a couple of days. I have tried in vain to find a doctor who makes house calls in my town. She currently sees an internist who has his own practice, but he is also nearing retirement, and I dread finding a new PCP for her.
Since my parents are already in their 90's, a regular family doctor would work just as well.
Now while driving home with my parents from a doctor appointment, we can stop at the pharmacy and the prescription is already for pickup because their doctor sent it to the pharmacy via her computer while my parents were still in the exam room. Lab tests are now send to the doctor's computer, no waiting for the paper results via regular mail. And now we the patient can go into our file from our own computer and see what the doctor had written, preview our own lab results, etc.
I understand transferring all the paper files over to computer memory wasn't an easy task. I assume if a patient hadn't visited the doctor in the past 5 years, that file wouldn't have been put into the computer. Now those walls full of manila files are gone... and no more grabbing the wrong file. The computer files are first sorted by birthdate, then by name to get the correct patient.
The solo practitioner was great back in it's day, but don't forget we had to go here and go there for x-rays, blood tests, EKG, etc. Now with large group practices, lot of the testing is done on-site.
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