I've mentioned the fact that I no longer receive medical care from the Air Force now that I'm a geezer and have been forced into Medicare. What this means is I've transitioned from military health care out at Cannon Airplane Patch... which was excellent in each and every regard... into the care of our local medicos, specifically those practicing at Roosevelt General Hospital. I don't have any major issues with the quality or cost of my health care... so far. I like my new doctor. I like the facilities at Roosevelt General's clinic. The RGH clinic staff are attentive, friendly, and competent. I'm seen on-time at the appointed time. The clinic submits claims directly to Medicare and Tricare and payment has been both timely and unquestioned. So far, so good, right?
Well, I DO have a nit to pick.
I arrived for my appointment at RGH yesterday a half hour early as I had a billing question I needed resolved. Which it was. Quickly. Efficiently. And to my complete satisfaction, which was as I hoped it would be. There was a downside, though. I had to cool my heels in the waiting room for the better part of a half hour because I was, well, early. I didn't come prepared for an extended wait, which is to say I didn't bring a book or a magazine or something else to amuse me. Bad move on my part, as the only reading material available was a stack of old Women's Day magazines and oodles of that slick printed medical propaganda disguised as magazines. And speaking of propaganda... there was a large flat screen teevee tuned to AccentHealth, a CNN-produced network purporting to be "America's Largest Health Education Network" that dominated the waiting room, set at a volume that made it impossible to ignore.
It sucked.
The programming was 75% commercials for pharmaceuticals... soothingly suggesting you to "Ask your doctor about Valtrex - Avodart - Cialis - and various other examples of modern pharmaceutical gris-gris"... interspersed with three-minute segments about how to deal with arthritis, colitis, avoid sunburn, eat more leafy greens, and other such bullshit. The ratio was about one infomercial segment to three blatant advertisements, all of which looked kinda like this:
The teevee wasn't exactly blaring but it was set at such a level as to demand your attention, the upshot being I never realized 25 minutes could last so damned long. I was finally called in to see the doctor after those interminable 25 minutes passed but I was left (a) thankful that I'm generally healthy and not suffering from any one of a zillion teevee-induced psychosomatic diseases and (b) wondering how many doctors are bombarded with demands for various and sundry drugs flogged right there in their waiting room. Don't we get enough of this shit at home?
I'm fairly happy with Tricare Standard and so's the Spousal Unit. I only see a doctor for a physical about every two years and verily, I detesteth the waiting room.
ReplyDeleteJust hoping Tricare doth not depart...
We have 'em too here in Canada. BUT the difference is, its illegal in Canada for pharmaceuticals to advertise their drugs - so no ads in any Canadian media. I laugh when I see them on Americans TV channels for the same reason you mentioned in your post. So the channel we get at the clinics are all about three-minute segments about how to deal with arthritis, colitis, avoid sunburn, eat more leafy greens, and other such bullshit without the pharmaceutical content. And yes, our waiting rooms are full of "Women's Day" or "Good Housekeeping" magazines... with the occasional trashy magazine that has seen better days.
ReplyDeleteJust not right, the bombarding you with ads while you're a captive (possibly very ill) audience. Next time, not only should you bring reading material, but also earplugs. Wear them into the exam. When the doc asks you something, say "Eh? What? Oh, I forgot I had my earplugs in..." and then you can give him (or her) a rant concerning the hideous TV.
ReplyDeleteMA is a terrible state with regard to health insurance right now. My annual payment more than doubled, and pretty much nothing is covered as well as before. MA also mandates that you have insurance of some kind. I wish the state would step in and mandate that everyone in the state needed to have I.T. support of some kind or pay a hefty fine at the end of the year. I'd be rolling in dough.
ReplyDeleteI haven't had the occasion to visit the local ER any time recently, knock on wood, but the last time I did, it was for a Migraine headache that was just ridiculous. I'd (at the time) tried a zillion meds for it, none of them made them better, some of them made them worse, so I'd taken to just going to the ER and gettign a shot of Demerol... The last visit, I waited in the ER waiting room for just shy of FIVE hours. Once in, they gave me the turkey-baster full of Demerol, and ten minutes later I was fine, albeit a little loopy... but my headache was gone.
Five hours of debilitating, nauseating pain, for a ten minute visit.
In those days (four years or so ago) an ER visit was $25. Now it's $250.
Don't know if it's better, but at the last doctor's office I worked at, we played Disney movies. At it wasn't a pediatrician, either. :)
ReplyDeleteThe Oracle recently needed to have the usual procedures one faces as they turn age 50..
ReplyDeleteAs such I had to wait for him in order to drive him home. The waiting room of the Surgical Center had one flat panel TV with no remote - and it was tuned to game shows.
Game. Shows.
Let's Make a Deal and The Price is Right to be exact.
Plenty of magazines on hand of all different kinds - thank god. Those, my iPhone and a book kept me from losing my mind and a few IQ points.
Game Shows. I think I'd take the pharma-ads.
Darryl: I was MORE than satisfied with Tricare (I had Prime) when I went on it seven years ago. I had civilian health insurance for 18 years prior to that, and Tricare was superior by comparison. If ALL gub'mint health care was like Tricare... oh wait. Never mind. We won't go there.
ReplyDeleteKC sez: I laugh when I see them on Americans TV channels for the same reason you mentioned in your post.
Those things are anything BUT funny. I'm caught on the horns of a dilemma here: I'm ALL about free speech yet I hate hate HATE those fucking ads. There's been many a time I've caught myself thing "there otta be a LAW!" But then I come to my senses. That said, if I ever do pickup that second career as a midnite fire-bomber, those asshats are FIRST on my list.
Jim: The earplugs thing is a good idea. I might actually do that. Srsly.
Matt: Dang. The situation in Mass is worse than we're led to believe, eh? FWIW... I used to have migraines and I KNOW from whence you speak. The good news is they decreased in periodicity and severity as I got older. I used to get one about every month as an adolescent, and rate steadily decreased over time. I haven't had one in a couple of years. There's hope.
Christina: I'd take the Disney movies, hands down.
Kris: But NOT game shows. Dang. Unless it was Jeopardy. ;-)
I've observed a pretty steady decline in them myself over the years. As a child, I'd get maybe two or three a week.
ReplyDeleteI haven't had one that I know if in about a year now. I'm down to just about one a year. I've noticed I get them LESS if I make sure to drink a few cups of coffee a day. It's not that I get them every time I DON'T have coffee, but the days that I do get them it's on days when I haven't had any.
On the positive side, I'm glad to here that, thus far, the switch to Medicare hasn't been too God awful.
ReplyDeleteI don't care what they are trying to fix with most of those bizarre meds, the list of possible side effects is enough to scare me off.
And, Kind Sir, it IS against the law here!!
ReplyDeleteNo more boxes of tissues all over the waiting room with drug names -- of course, there's also no pens, pencils or calendars either! Nope, not allowed to advertise. Undue influence and all that.
Plus, my doctor would not be impressed if I said, "Hey, I saw this TV ad for ...." he's one of those doctors whose first question is, "And how much exercise are you getting?" Grrrrrr.
@Matt: I get headaches on days when I haven't had any, too.
ReplyDeleteMatt & WWW: The coffee connection has been fairly well documented. I'm a SERIOUS caffeine junkie... I drink a pot a day, every day. I can't remember the last time I went a day without any coffee. That simply does NOT happen. Evah.
ReplyDeleteBR: The transition has been painless, Thank The Deity At Hand.
Kath: Wow. Who'd a thunk that... meaning drug ads being illegal anywhere in America? More power to your state! Wait. I didn't REALLY mean that. At all.
@Buck: Who was talking about coffee? ;-) ;-) nod nod
ReplyDeleteNow you're just rubbing salt into an open wound. Sadist.
ReplyDelete