Ten Things Your Hospital Won't Tell You

smart money ^ | 9/22/06 | Reshma Kapadia

[IIntense]

11)Wash your finger...

LOL

[muir_redwoods]

I only worked in a big city hospital for 7 years so maybe your experience was different. I knew many who would not eat there and it had nothing to do with the taste of the food. Perhaps one factor was the range of better choices nearby.

[rlmorel]

It is true that not all hospitals are the same. I work in a high quality hospital near Boston, and they do a good job keeping the place clean and instituting programs to promote hand washing and correct procedures to prevent transmission of hospital borne infections.

I got the creepy crawlies reading that person's post about the hospital in Tokyo...

[Dysart]

I'll add that if you have an elderly parent who is hospitalized or makes routine physician office visits that you should ensure that they do not go alone. These pts tend to either not ask important questions of nurses/physicians, or not understand the answers. Some health care providers are otherwise not forthcoming. Do not be shy about insisting on clarification on decisions being made regarding their treatment plan. If a drug or procedure is ordered, ask about its benefits and risks. If they are handed a medication, inquire about its purpose. And don't don't forget to list all current meds the pt routinely takes and remind if necessary before additional drugs are introduced (esp important when seeing multiple docs.) These precautions may appear trite but this is truly not the case.

[Vinnie]

"Good luck finding the person in charge.".....For nearly two days she kept asking for a veteran -- or "attending" -- doctor when the first-year resident's assessment seemed off.>

Isn't that the truth.

A few yrs. ago we went through that with my stepdaughter.

She was in the area's preeminent gastro- intestinal hospital with ulcerative colitis.

Every day a parade of interns came through, usually different ones each day.

Nothing was getting done to relieve the pain, nausea. She is 5'7" and dropped to under 100 lbs.

My wife and a doctor were at the verge of trading punches one day.

The entire experience was a nightmare.
I could go on and on.
We tried to get her transferred to another hospital but because of 'professional courtesy' no other doctor or hospital would take her.

We finally got the head of nursing to intervene on her behalf. We insisted one doctor was placed in charge of her treatment. One we could consult with concerning her treatment and eventually got a positive outcome but it was months.

Given a choice, I would never go to a teaching hospital.

[Zakeet]

The filthiest hospital I have ever seen was Tokyo General.

Aw, that's nothing.

I used to travel to Africa from time to time while working for a major oil company. Although I never went near a hospital, I had several colleagues who did. Their stories were incredible.

To begin with, they were blown away by the smell of vomit, stale urine, feces, and decaying flesh the moment they walked in the door. Then then were blown away by the sight of blood, vomit, stale urine, feces and decaying flesh -- on the walls, in the hallways, and even on the ceilings.

Then they were blown away by the sight, sound and smell of goats, chickens and pigs -- everywhere. The nursing was nonexistent and entire families would move in to care for their sick relatives. Naturally, the family needed fresh meat, milk, eggs, etc. And naturally, they thought nothing about butchering an animal in the hospital itself (the major source of the decaying flesh and blood). Nobody had the common sense to clean up after butchering an animal -- not that it would do any good because nobody could afford soap, let alone disinfectants.

Then they were blown by the stacks of sick and dying people stacked in wards and hallways like cord wood. Nothing like watching tropical diseases, infections, and parasites do their thing on poor suffering people. And, of course, there were the accompanying sound effects.

We used to have two cardinal rules for travel over there: (1) don't get sick; and (2) if you do, don't see a doctor.

[Kirkwood]

Yeah, but you expect those conditions in 3rd world Africa. You don't expect unsanitary conditions in a 1st world country like Japan that holds purity in the highest regard and boasts one of the most technologically advanced cities on the planet (having been totally rebilt in the last 60 years). THAT is what is so shocking.

[snowsislander]

The filthiest hospital I have ever seen was Tokyo General.

Where exactly is "Tokyo General" hospital? I have been to hospitals in Tokyo and elsewhere in the Kanto area, and I don't remember a "Tokyo General."

As to cleanliness, the only one that I saw that I thought might have a problem there was Seibo, which didn't look clean at all to me. But I thought that Tokyo University Hospital and St. Luke's in particular were excellent facilities, and certainly both compare very favorably to hospitals that I have seen here in the United States.

[Zakeet]

Yeah, but you expect those conditions in 3rd world Africa. You don't expect unsanitary conditions in a 1st world country like Japan

My wife and I had two children born in London. There, the conditions were obviously much better than Africa, but were still grossly lacking by US standards.

Among other things: The blessed events took place in an old Victorian building complete with wood floors and soft plaster walls (i.e. not particularly cleanable); a vinyl covered delivery table (no stirrups) that was wiped clean between deliveries; an old, rusty iron sink with dripping faucet in one corner of the room, next to a rusty oxygen bottle, next to a bookcase containing several sets of forceps (and that's all they had in the way of medical gear); one bare light bulb dangling in the middle of the room; open windows with the flies buzzing in and out (in June and August when our kids were born), etc.

And here's the clincher, because we were "private pay," we got the best. Our children were born at a teaching hospital on the grounds of a leading medical school and were delivered by the head of the OB/GYN department (who was an awesome doctor, incidentally).

Oh, for the wonders of socialized medicine.

[Kirkwood]

I didn't want to name it specifically, but since you asked it is Keio University hospital in central Tokyo with a 1000+ bed general hospital. I also visited several hospitals in other cities in Japan and most were as clean if not cleaner than your typical US hospital, which is what I expected. Keio was a bit of a shock.

[television is just wrong]

lol, they should go home anyway.

[codercpc]

4. "Everything is negotiable, even your hospital bill." When it comes to getting paid, hospitals have their work cut out for them. Medical bills are a major cause of bankruptcy in the U.S., and when collectors are put on the case, they take up to 25% of what is reclaimed, according to Mark Friedman, founder of billing consultant Premium Healthcare Services. That leaves room for some bargaining.

Please remember this one. Although the advocates of universal healthcare will never tell you this, the reason a non-insured person pays more than a insurance company does, is because the Government mandates that they must.

Any healthcare entity that accepts Medicare must legally BILL everybody the same amount. Medicare, and almost all insurance companies have negotiated what they will pay (not what they will bill, but what they will pay), but since a non insured patient doesn't negotiate with a hospital, or doctor before hand, the hospital must legally bill the full amount. Most places will negotiate with you after they have billed you the correct amount. They must, again per Medicare laws, do this on the back end. They cannot do this without your request to do it, because otherwise they would be violating the law. While not legally required to write anything off, very few hospitals, or clinics would refuse to meet you half way. Especially if you have a clean credit history with them. Hospitals generally DO NOT want to send you to collection, where they only receive pennies on the dollar, they would much rather get the charges off the books, while working with you. You must not be afraid to ask, because unless you do, there is legally nothing they can do.

Of course your best chance of success is to offer to pay in cash, with a cash discount whenever possible, but most places will gladly work with you to make monthly payments (almost always interest free). Also ask them straight out if they will accept Medicares rate from you, some places will do this. But the number one rule is, YOU MUST REQUEST HELP!!!!! Don't ever just push the bill to the side, whining that you can't afford it, when a simple call to the accounting office could yield huge benefits.

Gone are the days of trading your doctor a chicken for a house call. Medicare, and other Government agencies have made that illegal (unless your doctor refuses Medicare or Medicaid participation).

[freedumb2003]

We were doing fine until we got to 5);)

[snowsislander]

didn't want to name it specifically, but since you asked it is Keio University hospital in central Tokyo with a 1000+ bed general hospital.

Interesting. That's certainly not the reputation of Keio University Hospital. Are you sure that it was Keio University Hospital, and not another facility?

[Kirkwood]

Definitely. I have friends who work there. That is why I was shocked.

[goodnesswins]

The hospital management heard about it...he eventually sorta apologized. My uncle was not living there....for some reason he had a surgeon there (he was living in Montana - and a friend had referred him to the surgeon there...I think.)

[zot]

I had heard that Phisohex had some bad effects on children if it was used full-strength. But it is a type of soap -- a disinfectant -- and so it cannot result in increased resistance to anything else, such as antibiotics.

[snowsislander]

Definitely. I have friends who work there. That is why I was shocked.

I am sorry to disagree with you, but to the best of my knowledge, I don't think you are correct in asserting that Keio University Hospital has poor sanitation.

I just spoke with someone who trained there, and who does not agree with your assertion about the lack of cleanliness of the facility. This is a well-known facility that caters to some of the wealthiest people in Japan.

I believe that you must be thinking of another facility.

For reference, here's a bit about Keio University Hospital from Keio University's webpages:

Established in 1920, three years after the founding of Keio University Medical School, Keio University Hospital is located on the Shinanomachi Campus in central Tokyo. A leading institution of Western-style medicine in Japan, the hospital draws on the talents of Japan's most distinguished and accomplished medical professionals, practitioners, and researchers. In 1987, the hospital was greatly expanded with a new 11-story wing housing ultra-modern facilities and equipment. Some 25 specialized clinics and 14 major examination clinics currently operate round the clock in this massive 1,072-bed general hospital, which also has fully equipped laboratory, research, and medical information divisions. A synergistic relationship between all of these facilities ensures the highest level of medical care.

This is the home of Keio University Medical Science Fund which gives out 40 million yen ($US350,000) in prize money every year for excellence in medical research. (For what it is worth, Dr. Thomas Steitz of Yale is one of the recipients of the Keio Medical Science Prize for 2006.)

This is a facility where one of the faculty members (Dr. Chikai Mukai) is one of the Space Shuttle astronauts, and could work anywhere she wanted:

Seibo Hospital, yes, I can easily believe that Seibo has some sanitation problems, but sorry, I don't think you are correct about Keio University Hospital.

[misterrob]

well, it may be a more enjoyable way to go but if you are going to show up at the hospital looking for free care then at least make a good effort to stay healthy

[Mom MD]

Actually no, hospital workers are rarely sick, its those of us in outpatient medicine that get sick. I'll grant you hospital workers are colonized with some nasty bugs, but they rarely cause illness

My husband and I eat a the hospital all the time. OTher than some bad tasting food, I have not found any health risk.