So you confirmed that you DO need to have your brakes
fixed…..you've see your specialist, had your second
opinion and you WILL need to have a medical procedure.
Where are you going to have it done and Who will do it???
Empowered patients know that not all hospitals are the
same and not all doctors share equivalent skills. Empowered
patients play a major part in the decision of procedural
care. Do your homework and ask a lot of questions.
Since frequency is often a measure of quality in today's
healthcare... Ask how many like procedures has this hospital
performed this past year. What are their success rates???
Do they track their outcomes??? (You may be surprised
at how much they can vary from hospital to hospital).
What type of back-up is available should something go
wrong??? How long will it take them to arrive???
Similarly research your doctor. Is he/she board certified???
How many years??? How many like procedures performed
this year??? How are his/her outcomes for this procedure???
What is his reputation in the local medical community???
There are no dumb questions when it comes to evaluating
your surgical doctor.
As a general rule avoid any outpatient surgical centers
for major medical care. Instead, consider choosing a
University Medical Center for your surgery. It can be
as easy as changing your HMO primary care provider to
someone within the university health system. University
medical centers often utilize the latest technologies
and approaches to your treatment and are often run by
"world class" experts in the field. Additionally,
university medical centers often have built-in patient
review systems where "teams of doctors" evaluate
your care. Once again, you will have to ask specifically
who will be conducting the procedure and what are his/her
qualifications.
Once you have made YOUR decision on Who and
Where….Demand it from your HMO. PRINT-OUT a copy
of the "Patients Are Powerful Request for Medical
Services Outside Contracted Area Sample Letter"…use
it as a guide to write your own. Be brief, persuasive
and state your demand at the top of the letter. This
effort may require a good deal of persistence... be
tough and stand strong…Empowered Patients choose
who and where their procedures will be done. Keep in
mind that a local hospital may indeed own the practice
of your primary care provider. And again, your doctor
may be positively evaluated on how often he/she refers
procedure to the contacted hospital. Procedures are
great money-makers for hospital health system. Be aware
of any relationships and acknowledge that conflicts
of interest may apply. Good luck and Be Persistent...
procedure are serious matters, go to the best hospital
for your condition.
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