Open Discussion: Does your doctor put you first?

My doctor puts me first along with his 10,000 other patients!

I think it depends on the setting. If you are in a large academic teaching hospital you're bound to be subject to the flock of white lab coats discussing your case and it may seem impersonal but these people are learning, they are teaching, they are discussing your disease, not you. It depends too on the service. Surgeons tend to be more impersonal (not always the case) whereas the general medicine internists tend to be more on the empathetic side. But the setting of a large academic hospital provides the best case scenario if you have a serious disease, the latest technology and the knowledge is there for the patient and the clinicians. It's a very complicated relationship for all involved. My take? I want the best care and it doesn't always entail the hand holding. These are highly trained technicians and if you took your car in for repair, do you want a good mechanic or an affable one? The combo would be great but what are the expectations?
Personally I prefer skill over all else.

My doctor does a great job. He explains what stuff is. He is very good with saying the tough stuff like you gotta lose some weight. He checks a little pocket reference guide and makes sure what he is prescribing is covered under my plan. You can tell he likes what he does.

I want control of my health care. If the government is in charge, there is nowhere to go if I'm not happy with the service I'm getting.

It's great your doctor is so committed, Janet! How long have you been his patient?

You make an excellent point about teaching hospitals, Francesca. We may feel on the outskirts, even during the simplest of procedures, but generally teaching hospitals are at the forefront of medical technology (that's not always the case, though...I know thanks to personal experience with...we'll call it..."the wart that wouldn't go away"). You do make a very good point, though, one which lots of people would agree with. Have you had personal experience to bring you to your conclusion?

The tough stuff is having to lose weight, Winston? What's "you have colon cancer", then? (Heaven forbid). You're right, though, there definitely are doctors who love what they do. No doubt about it. It's great that you have healthcare, but what is your opinion of those who don't?

Eliza, this is a very interesting response. Do you see how you "plant the seed" in the mind of people about potential illness? This is exactly what the media does, and what advertising for Big Pharma does. Maybe Winston does not have any risk whatever for colon cancer? Why did you even MENTION that?! (I am sure you didn't MEAN any harm, but stuff like that does CAUSE harm.)

I will, obviously, have to think more carefully about what I say from now on. You do make a very valid point.

I work in a large academic hospital and have for the past 25 years. I've seen a lot of changes and trends, particularly with the technology we have today compared to what we had when I first started out in health care. One trend that is finally beginning to emerge in the forefront is patients becoming more pro-active with the care the receive. No one should be left in the dark. Every hospital has a patient bill of rights, otherwise they wouldn't be accredited. Learn it and use it. If you are a family member, be an advocate for the patient. Question each treatment and medication. The outcome is win-win for all involved.

Any doctor who accepts Medicare has been dealing with government regulation for a very long time. I don't understand people who say that they don't want national health because they don't want the government making their medical decisions, when they already do!

If you are in severe pain, you better hope your doctor likes you more than the hassles than he's going to get with the DEA if [the doctor] thinks a Vicodin or Oxycontin is the best choice for relief of your pain. If you are the nervous type, your doctor will give you a "drowsy anti-histamine" rather than a benzodiazepin. And, after all, all Medicaid and Medicare drug plans specifically exclude Valium and Xanax, etc. Even Klonopin which is used for treatment in epilepsy is forbidden.

Now the "surprise" here is that people think this situation doesn't exist already just because they haven't encountered it. Or maybe they are convinced that the $20-a-pill, latest greatest migraine remedy works for them rather than a plain ol' aspirin/codeine combo that costs about .000001 cents to make and about 10 cents each to buy.

Ever since my 82-year-old doctor finally retired, I avoid doctors like the plague. I have no illusions that they care about me. I don't trust them.

Right now people without health insurance get health care. Not great health care, but it's health care.

How do we help those folks out without screwing with the other 98% who have it?
Why does this sound like a huge government control thing?
Do we include ilegal aliens?
How do we encourage people off of government health care once they can afford their own.
Part of the goal of the SHCIPS and OBamacare is to get as many people as possible dependant on another government program, so those people will be dependant on politicians for their livelihood. That's what makes it difficult.

I love all the people that bellyached about the Bush Administration monitoring calls as part of homeland security but have no problem with a future Republican administration having their medical records.

All I know is this: I work within reach of Canada and it's amazing how many of these patients come to Michigan to receive the care they've been denied in Canada, paying out of their pocket because they choose to live. Over 65 and need cardiac bypass surgery? Soorry! Dialysis and and over 70? Soorry! It's a sterile form of genocide people. And NO! It's not a patriotic duty for the government to decide who lives and who dies. It should be OUR decision to make, not the government. Yes we feel helpless with insurance red tape, Medicare's, Medicaid. Wait until universal health care people! Warts and all we have the best health care for everyone! I've YET to see anyone denied health care where I work because they aren't insured. I don't mind my tax dollars paid toward that and realistically? WE DO HAVE IT IN PLACE RIGHT NOW! It's happening! It's here! But for Sen. Conyers to say it's too difficult to read 1000 pages and to say forget it and just vote on it now without reading it?????? Hitler would have LOVED this form of sterilized genocide and this cannot happen. Our parents are the reason we have what we have. I wil not allow my government to dictate who lives and who dies. End of story.

Sounds like most everyone in this discussion has one problem or another with the current healthcare system and the solutions being proposed by Congress. I invite you all to check out Today's Question at MPR NewsQ: What's missing from the health care debate? I'm sure our Public Insight Network would benefit from your perspectives on the subject!