Patient beware

Well, here I sit, contemplating yesterday's post that undoubtedly enflamed (yes, I meant with an “e” rather than an “i”) some folks. That’s okay. My good friend Arthur from Dissident Thoughts

https://www.arthursido.com/

offered that I possibly gave up too much personal info. Yeah, maybe, and Arthur, the first drink is on me when I’m up in Indy again.

Let’s get back to healthcare today, although if your water supply is FUBAR, you’ve got no health. I read a couple of interesting pieces yesterday (the Irish Whiskey was flowing, and had me surfing incessantly) that got me to thinking. There is no doubt that hospitals are, in this day and time, among the most dangerous places to find oneself surrounded by. The thing I love about what I do now, compared to years past, is that 99% of what I do is considered to be outpatient. I stepped back from a component of my practice that was complex, high-risk, and in my estimation after two decades of experience, had limited impact upon survival relative to what I do now. One of the reasons I altered my focus is that while the hospitals were more than happy to have that complex, high-risk practice under their rooves, they weren't willing to spend the money to provide adequate ancillary support to maintain satisfactory, SAFE postoperative care. These were faith-based institutions, mind you. Chew on that a moment or two. Yeah, they suck. The soulless monsters who run those circus shows really don’t care if you live or die while admitted to their facilities (especially if they can somehow tie your presence to COVID-19).

We have many problems in healthcare now….besides the enormous black eye our credibility took due to the abject dishonesty and indifference regarding COVID-19 and the still-inconsistent supply chain issues we face (the tenuous availability of mundane items like certain antibiotics and local anesthetics would leave most Americans slack-jawed). The most pressing and acute is the staffing crisis. Hell, CRUISE LINES are canceling sailings because of an inability to staff their ships

https://www.winterwatch.net/2022/08/top-us-cruise-lines-cancel-sailings-amid-labor-shortage/

Healthcare facilities of all types are facing shortages of personnel at all levels, from Nursing all the way down to housekeeping. Few people realize how many personnel components are required to make an operation, for example, happen. Yes, there's the surgeon and anesthesiologist, of course

but what about Nursing in the O.R. and recovery room, surgical technologists and assistants? Did you ever consider the Sterile processors who clean and sterilize instruments, housekeeping personnel who specialize in cleaning operating rooms and decontamination, anesthesia technicians, CRNAs, pathologists and laboratory technicians, pharmacists and their technicians? It’s like a ballet, really, even for the most mundane procedures, because IT HAS TO BE FLAWLESS EVERY SINGLE DAMNED TIME. Zero room or tolerance for failure. So, I was disturbed to read this

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/travel-nurses-gold-rush-now-are-joining-nurses-leaving-profession-alto-rcna45363

We are chronically short of nurses and techs. Several phenomenah account for this. During the early phase of the COVIDiocy, nurses, techs and other personnel (radiology and respiratory techs, pharmacists, etc) were being paid STUPID money for travel assignments. We would see our techs and nurses take a 3-month assignment at another local hospital, then return to our hospital after. So, why the shortage? It seems that these assignments would be taken and then the employee would then take a month or two off, unpaid but still averaging out better than before. Now, it seems, these travelers don’t want to return to work for their original level of compensation. They feel they are worth more (and they are). Now, I have great respect for nurses. They are the glue that holds it all together, and they work hard. But this also sheds light upon another concurrent phenomenon, the disincentivation of work, so eloquently recently described by former Texas Senator Phil Gramm and others

https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2022/09/the-myth-of-american-income-inequality.html

The producer class is under attack and shrinking. Who WILL make the trains run on time? We talk a lot about resources and shortages and grid-down scenarios, but what if the producers in society finally threw up their hands and said “Enough!”? 87,000 new IRS agents specifically targeting the producer class may be all it takes

Your healthcare system in the US is hanging by a thread, and only due to the diligence and dedication of those staffing it, rather than the automatons administering it, does it still manage to function, albeit increasingly inefficiently. It won't take much to tip it over the edge.

Tempis fugit. Stay safe, stay well *for your own self-interest*

Damn, two posts in two days. A record