When Health Care works!

[Guest guest]

Friday at noon 74 y/o lady walks in to my new office asking

to see the Doc.  Patient comes from her actual provider who just gave her an

appointment, 3 weeks from now, when she showed up complaining of vague abdominal

pain.  As our policy is that if “you believe that you need to see the Doctor

I would see you” my staff said off course no problem.  Lady’s son

asked my staff if I was “any good” and they responded that “Dr.

Batlle knows his stuff”.  Mrs. P gives me a story of “stomach

problems” for a long time usually controlled by diet and some PPI but

this time is bothering her enough to go to the Doc, all she wanted was a

prescription for a PPI and that was it.  I take a look at her and find some

abdominal discomfort and a positive sign and I tell Mrs. P that most

likely this time it is gallstones and possible cholecystitis and that, most

likely, she would need surgery.  Mrs. P proceeds to blow it off on her usual “stomach

problem” but I convince her to go and get an US at an associate’s

facility very close by,  I give them a call and they say off course send her

over and I’ll call you with the results.  At 145pm Mrs. P passed in front

of my door, with her son, stating that she is going for lunch; I told her to

just wait for my call at home prior to trying to eat that I would have the US

results.   At 2pm I get a call from my colleague stating that Mrs. P’s gallbladder

is full of stones and it is very inflamed and telling me that he is sending her

to the hospital, he was pretty surprised when I told him that she just left my

office.  I get a hold of Mrs. P who does not want to go to Hospital as she is

not really sick, at that point I get son on the phone and explained, strongly,

the implications of the diagnosis and that she can get very sick at any moment. 

They came to the office and picked up the US Stat report and a letter and went

to ED where another colleague was waiting for her.  Mrs. P got surgery that

evening with the findings of a gangrenous gallbladder and a Hospital staff that

told them that “your Doc pretty much saved your life as you would have

been septic pretty soon”.  Monday morning Mrs. P calls from Home, discharged

pretty early that morning, thanking me for making her go to the hospital even

so she was sure that I was just nuts.  Son took on himself to come to the

office to thank me and give me a hug.

The amazing part is that all every provider involved did was

what they are supposed to do: take care of the problem at that moment, no

questions asked.

from Upper Manhattan, NYC, NY