Health Care, Schmealth Care...

So... I'm firing another doctor.

I hate doing it, but I 100% believe that you have to advocate for yourself and get the medical treatment that you need and that you deserve, and not just be your doctor's paycheck. So after a horrible doctor visit a week ago and a trip to the emergency room last night, I am meeting a new MD tomorrow. He was the gynecologist on-call last night, who the ER doc consulted with over the phone. I told the ER doctor that I really wanted to leave with a referral, because I wanted to get to the bottom of what was causing my pain and was unhappy with the doctor I had been seeing. So he shared that with the on-call gyno, who said he would be happy to take me as a patient.

This morning, I called his office. First impressions are everything, people. The woman I spoke to on the phone was marvelous. I told her why I was calling, and where I had been seen for the last 7 years, and that I was no longer happy there. She told me she was sorry I'd had that experience. She said that since I was in the ER last night, she was sure that Dr. New Guy would want to see me this week, so she got me a next-day appointment. She made sure that their office is a participating provider for my insurance. She told me to bring my discharge paperwork from the ER, and that we would worry about transferring records tomorrow when I arrived. She asked if there was anything else she could help me with, and told me they look forward to meeting me tomorrow. People, if I could give hugs through the phone, this woman would have gotten one. And the thing is... NONE OF WHAT SHE DID WAS ANYTHING MAMMOTH. She was polite, friendly, helpful, and gives people a damn good first impression of their practice. Hopefully everyone else there will measure up.

But all of this got me thinking a lot. I really wanted to do some research, possibly find a female doctor, find someone with a clinical interest in some of the medical issues I'm dealing with... but that's not easy to do. Once again, I randomly ended up with a doctor. I feel like, as a healthcare consumer, I'm hiring someone to perform a VERY important service. I don't choose a mechanic at random out of the Yellow Pages when I have car problems - I get estimates, I go to people I know and trust, or I get recommendations from people I know and trust. I wouldn't just randomly hire a carpenter to build me a house. But in the healthcare system, so much of the care we receive is determined by the insurance we have (or the insurance we don't have... I've been there too). The medications we take, the doctors we see, the treatments we receive. And so much of it is luck of the draw. In this case, I went to a hospital that my insurance will pay, and I have a follow-up appointment with the doctor who just happened to be on call that night. It certainly speeds up the process, but the last doctor I was randomly assigned to barely gave me the time of day at my last appointment, necessitating this emergency room visit in the first place.

I feel that we should demand more. Health care in the United States is not a right. Quality, affordable, competent, thorough health care needs to be a right, and it needs to be readily available. I want to have choices. I want my doctor to be able to determine what treatment is appropriate for me - not my insurance company. I want to be able to easily find a doctor who respects my decisions, my feelings, and my choices.

Hopefully I've randomly stumbled across one.