Woman dies in hopital waiting room

[RICHARD]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19251478/


One of the city councilmembers, Zev Yaroslavsky made an observation about the CC tape of the waiting room.

He said that the housekeepers came out and cleaned up the vomit off the floor before the woman died....

Nice, you can get the mess cleaned up before treatment.. :rolleyes:

[Laura's Babies]

Can you believe that? I wondered if they thought she was faking and how in the world you could fake throwing up blood? This is AMERICA people, you don't ignore someone that sick! That hospital should be held accountable and have the books thrown at them. 2 people called 911 and there was nothing they could do? Send a ambulance to get her and take her to another hospital where she could get HELP! :rolleyes:

This whole story is WRONG! Things like this should not happen in AMERICA!

[lizbud]

Richard, I understand that this hospital had the worst record ever and
other incidents of gross errors were also made against them. (King/Drew)
Why were they even operating at all? They said mostly poor, no insurance
patients are treated (or not) there. Is that true?

[Edwina's Secretary]

Why were they even operating at all? They said mostly poor, no insurance
patients are treated (or not) there. Is that true?

Yes, it is a hospital...like County General or Cook County Hospital...that serves mostly poor, uninsured people. But for them...it is better than no medical care at all I suppose.

Because our medical delivery system is focused on those with insurance...this is where the uninsured go. What number of Americans are uninsured? 47 million or so? Scary? And none of us really know if we will be one of the 47 million tomorrow.

Is there a healthcare crisis?

[ratdogg]

i read about this story on some local news website and they had the 911 tapes to listen to. It was really astounding to listen to the dispatcher say it isn't an emergency.

[RICHARD]

Richard, I understand that this hospital had the worst record ever and
other incidents of gross errors were also made against them. (King/Drew)
Why were they even operating at all? They said mostly poor, no insurance
patients are treated (or not) there. Is that true?

True.


There have been numerous problems at this 'hospital' in the last few years.

Mostly in the way it's run.....There was the head of radiology who was 'working' more than 24 hours in a day!

I don't remember the exact details, but he would put down that he worked something like 28 hours in a day, then get paid overtime for them,

[Freedom]

That poor woman had been in THAT EMERGENCY room before; this was her THIRD trip for the same illness!

Has anyone heard WHAT she had? I hope it wasn't contagious; there were lots of folks in the waiting area.

[dukedogsmom]

That also happened to one of our employees here. He was having a heart attack and had been in the ER 30 minutes and no one had seen to him. The wife had to get help and by then it was too late. Very sad state of affairs. And this is a totally different subject but a lot of the ER overcrowding is from the immigrants. This told to me by an ER employee. They don't have to pay for anything. We foot the bill :mad:

[cassiesmom]

I think the problem is that inner city hospitals that serve uninsured and underinsured patients are just overwhelmed. I don't know if this is scientifically accurate, but anecdotally, it seems to me that people without insurance wait until they are desperately ill before they seek health care, because of the financial issues. Cook County Hospital here in Chicago (a brand spanking new, state of the art facility) just had an unannounced Joint Commission inspection and received 22 errors. Plus, I don't know if King/Drew is a level 1 trauma center but I know Cook County is - so on top of a huge crowd of uninsured patients waiting for care, they are getting major emergency situations as well. Just an aside - even though the patient's family called 911, I'm not sure that an ambulance and especially not a taxpayer-funded one could have transported her to another care without her first being evaluated by King/Drew - that could be construed as patient dumping under emergency medical treatment laws (EMTALA). In my mind, this is yet another example of the problems with health care in America.

[Edwina's Secretary]

And this is a totally different subject but a lot of the ER overcrowding is from the immigrants. This told to me by an ER employee. They don't have to pay for anything. We foot the bill :mad:

Unisured people go to the emergency room for two reasons...
- because they do not have insurance and cannot afford medical care...if they get sick they go without treatment until it is an emergency
- Medical providers do not like to treat people without insurance...emergency rooms have no choice.

There are 12 million illegal immigrants (I assume you are referring to those who are illegal...) some of those have insurance through their employer...but there are 47 million people in this country without medical insurance....

Do the math...even assuming NO illegal immigrants have insurance...there are still at least 35 million RED-BLOODED AMERICANS who do not have insurance and have cause to use the emergency room as the first line of medical care.

If your ER employee is referring to all immigrants...legal and otherwise... :eek: :mad: :(

And it is not they do not have to pay...it is that they cannot pay.

And those of us who are insured...those of us who pay taxes...indirectly pay for the uninsured -- native born...legal immigrant...or illegal immigrant.

[wombat2u2004]

True.


There have been numerous problems at this 'hospital' in the last few years.

Mostly in the way it's run.....There was the head of radiology who was 'working' more than 24 hours in a day!

I don't remember the exact details, but he would put down that he worked something like 28 hours in a day, then get paid overtime for them,

28 hours in a day huh ??? And he got paid for that ???? Sounds like the pay clerk needs to go back to kindergarten.
Wom

[K9soul]

I think people should try not to be so quick to judge hospitals and ER staff. Especially ERs. Yes there are some cold and callous doctors and staff there, but ER and acute care centers are often the most overworked, understaffed, and bombarded areas of the medical field. I know, as I work two transcription jobs, one of which is almost purely ER work. They have had patients being seen in hallways and even out in their cars before because of they were so overfilled. And I'd say at LEAST 50% of ER visits, at least, and I'd probably guess closer to 60% or higher, are people feeling like they are having a heart attack. Most of them aren't, although there is no way to know that until they do cardiac enzymes, EKGs, so on and so forth. There's a full barrage of tests and protocol they must do for each patient who comes in with chest pain symptoms.

Add to all that, how often people abuse ERs, it is enough to make any doctor wary and a bit detached. So many people run in for every sniffle, from being drunk, from taking too many drugs. I even had one report where a mother rushed her perfectly well child to the ER because she found some mold in his room.. Then there are the pain drug seekers, dreaming up elaborate stories to get narcotics, forcing the doctors to have to research and call around to pharmacies and other doctors to get the real story. Belligerent and nasty patients who hurl all manner of abuse at the medical staff.

Finally, I think so many people do not realize the true purpose of the ER. They are not there to give a definitive diagnosis and cure you, to do surgery and long-term treatment. They are there to sew cuts closed, splint broken bones until the patient can get to the orthopedist, or admit to the hospital for more treatment where the case then passes from their hands. They are, in essence, a quick stop to look at the picture and do a few rudimentary lab tests to find out where the patient should go next. Half the time, the patient never follows up or ignores their advice. This particular woman may have had some end-stage cancer going on, or maybe something such as ulcerative disease from drinking, perhaps had been told before to stop drinking and get to a GI specialist and she wasn't able or never did. We really do not know the whole picture at all to make accusations against the hospital.

I don't know much about this particular hospital, but I listen and see people complaining about hospitals and ERs constantly, and they often just don't know the other side of things.

[Vela]

Have to agree with the above post. I also work in the same job field and we see a LOT of abuse of physicians by patients as well. There are two sides to everything, and while I don't know the particular circumstances of this case, there may have been a very good reason they weren't able to see her. We don't know that there weren't other people in the back who weren't in worse shape than this patient. Lots of people throw up blood, and often it's not life and death.

ER staff are always overworked and underpaid and I know that many of them do the best they can with what they are given. People can't perform miracles and when funding for these types of hospitals, for the under or uninsured, is continually cut, it affects patient care, unfortuatnely.

I do feel badly for that woman and her family, and I wish she had been seen and helped in time, but we don't know all of the circumstances behind it, and certainly she wasn't the only person there for treatment. It's a lose lose situation for both patients and staff when there isn't enough funding for hospitals for the uninsured.

[dukedogsmom]

Unisured people go to the emergency room for two reasons...
- because they do not have insurance and cannot afford medical care...if they get sick they go without treatment until it is an emergency
- Medical providers do not like to treat people without insurance...emergency rooms have no choice.

There are 12 million illegal immigrants (I assume you are referring to those who are illegal...) some of those have insurance through their employer...but there are 47 million people in this country without medical insurance....

Do the math...even assuming NO illegal immigrants have insurance...there are still at least 35 million RED-BLOODED AMERICANS who do not have insurance and have cause to use the emergency room as the first line of medical care.

If your ER employee is referring to all immigrants...legal and otherwise... :eek: :mad: :(

And it is not they do not have to pay...it is that they cannot pay.

And those of us who are insured...those of us who pay taxes...indirectly pay for the uninsured -- native born...legal immigrant...or illegal immigrant.
Actually, they come in for everything from simple colds to more. My point was to say that's one of the things bogging down the ERs.

[Marigold2]

Is is true. These people sneek across the boarder, take our benefits, jobs, want to vote and get free medical and social sercurity. I have no pity for them at all. Yes the hospital was wrong, very very wrong. But so is sneeking across the boarder.
Hospitals lose tons of money on these people The Drs and nurses are fed up with them and some don't care about them either. The ER is overrun and understaffed.

That also happened to one of our employees here. He was having a heart attack and had been in the ER 30 minutes and no one had seen to him. The wife had to get help and by then it was too late. Very sad state of affairs. And this is a totally different subject but a lot of the ER overcrowding is from the immigrants. This told to me by an ER employee. They don't have to pay for anything. We foot the bill :mad:

[Edwina's Secretary]

The woman who died was NOT an illegal immigrant.

Last summer I went to the hospital with the same problems she had. I am a blue-eyed blonde with good medical insurance. I was seen immediately. Admitted to the hospital for less than two days my bill -- just for the hospital -- was over $13,000.

I truely shudder...knowing what pain I was in...to think of this woman lying on the floor of the emergency room with a perforated bowel. What a horrible, horrible, painful, undignified death.

And the discussion turns to "these people"......

May you never find yourself one of "these people" who do not have medical insurance. May no one ever speak of you with the heartlessness and callousness with which you speak of others.

My grandfather was a poor immigrant. He died in hospital. He bled to death internally due to a botched surgery.

So I guess to some people he was one of these people...who don't deserve decent medical care.... :( :( :( :(

[lizbud]

Yes Sara, the woman was not an illegal immigrant. It shouldn't really
matter one way or another, she was in horrible pain & died
on the floor in a HOSPITAL & nobody lifted a finger to help her. :(

I found this article in which her family spoke out about this woman's
life & what she meant to her family & those who knew her.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-rodriguez17jun17,1,4265754.story?coll=la-headlines-california&ctrack=3&cset=true

[wombat2u2004]

[QUOTE=Marigold2]Is is true. These people sneek across the boarder, take our benefits, jobs, want to vote and get free medical and social sercurity. I have no pity for them at all. Yes the hospital was wrong, very very wrong. But so is sneeking across the boarder.

WOW !!!! If this is so called "Greatest Nation on Earth" stuff, then I guess there's no hope for any of us.(Except us downunder of course....we've got it right !!!!)
Wom

[RICHARD]

Having a 'little' experience in what goes on in a hospital.....

I have seen people act like total AHs in an ER.

This woman should have been seen IMMEDIATELY, that said-

I have sat in an ER waiting room to be seen myself. It did not bother me to sit for a few hours because my cold, headache or ???? was not life threatening.

I have seen parents SCREAM at nurses or sit in the waiting room pi$$ing and moaning about, "That person went before us and WE HAVE been waiting here for one hour!"

YOU STUPID COW, THe person who went before you almost cut his hand off with a power saw, your kid has an earache. That is why it's called an emergency room - emergencies go first.

----------------
As far as insurance goes-

That is the reason, along with lawyers, that the healthcare industry is out of control.

To research and develop, market, test and finally introduce any medical device or medication cost more because of insurance.

I can turn on the TV set at any hour and see a commercial about "If you know someone who has fat ankles becuase they had to stand in line at the supermarket, call the law offices of Dewey, Cheatem and How!"

Last year there was a pacemaker recall-you should have seen the scramble and the lies told.

There was a little blurb in the news. Then the reps from the company were in the operating rooms to help change all the pacemakers they could, in the fastest time possible.

Why? just in case of a lawsuit.

--------------------------------

Back to the ER...

There are many people who come into an ER that do not speak english! There in lies one problem, Another is the universal RED CROSS. In many countries that signifies medical care......It's not like the Good Old U.S., where go see the specialist, often in another building, to get help.


The health care system is in shambles - this woman was not let down by the system, she was in an area where her life could have been saved. It's the people in that area, at that time who are to blame.

But overall the change has to come at the top-that means we have to kick the emm effing lobbyists who are in bed with the politicos in Washington.

They spread the money and the law makers introduce stupid laws that help the big med companies make more money.

--------------------


ALSO BEWARE THE FAT SCUMMY MAN THAT MAKES MOVIES ABOUT THE HCS.

[lizbud]

Richard. This womans' only crime was not having medical insurance.

She was still a human being and in severe pain, I would imagine. :(

Who committed the greater crime, her ,or the hospital staff of King/Drew?


p.s. And what does Michael Moore have to do with this? :p

[RICHARD]

Richard. This womans' only crime was not having medical insurance.

She was still a human being and in severe pain, I would imagine. :(

Who committed the greater crime, her ,or the hospital staff of King/Drew?


p.s. And what does Michael Moore have to do with this? :p

I accused no one of crime or being a criminal. She should have been seen immediately, insurance or not.

I do blame the AHs in the ER for not treating this woman-the HCI has placed the emphasis on paperwork, not patients.

----

Micheal Moore has just released his next waste of celluloid, "Sicko".

And again Moore chooses not to tell the story, he parks his moron arse in the middle of the it.

[lizbud]

Richard,

I meant nothing personal at all in my comments, just used your name to
point out that it's useless to blame the insurance industy, or lawyers, when
this hospital's staff failed to do their jobs. I think you said it best here.

"The health care system is in shambles - this woman was not let down by the system, she was in an area where her life could have been saved. It's the people in that area, at that time who are to blame."

[Edwina's Secretary]

Micheal Moore has just released his next waste of celluloid, "Sicko".



So you've seen it RICHARD??????? What was your least favorite part?

[RICHARD]

So you've seen it RICHARD??????? What was your least favorite part?

taking emergency workers to Cuba to prove that they can get 'better' care.

Of course xuncle Fidel will roll out the red carpet for them, Please.

----------------

Liz,

Did you know that there are "laws/rules" set up that limit the time that you spend in a hospital for any illness?And if you develop complications from that illness and overstay the insurance company will not pay?

Also, at the HMO I worked at, It was known that the docs HAD to discharge sick people because the hospital would not get paid.

There are some OB/GYNs who refuse to deliver babies because malpractice insurance is too costly.

I guess you haven't seen any commercials asking for sick people to call a toll free number to get in on a class action lawsuit?

Companies like Merck, Baxter U.S. Surgical spend thousands of dollars on the "HILL" trying to get exemptions to their products. And when they are put into circulation and fail the lawyers take over and the costs are passed on to the consumers.

BTW, Please don't ask, I do not know what I am talking about.

[Edwina's Secretary]

But did you see it RICHARD?

[RICHARD]

But did you see it RICHARD?

I saw a clip. not interested in Hi School Journalism.

[lizbud]

Richard, As one who has worked inside the hospital "system" for a long
time, I would think you have a lot to say about what goes on behind
the scenes. I've never had trouble with hospital care, but I've always had
insurance coverage too.

[lizbud]

I wonder if Sicko will win as many awards as his last film? He can always
get people talking about any subject thats for sure. :)

[cassiesmom]

Actually, they come in for everything from simple colds to more. My point was to say that's one of the things bogging down the ERs.


Yep and the government in Illinois wants to control costs by decreasing services available to this population - closing hospitals, clinics and a large extended care program. Tell me Governor, where are these people going to get their care if these facilities are closed? Grrr, grrr, don't get me started on this topic because it makes me so MAD! When I was in graduate school one of the ongoing questions was - is health care a right, or a privilege? How are people going to get the care and services they need, who will provide it and who will pay for it? No easy answers. But what we're doing now isn't working.

[RICHARD]

Richard, As one who has worked inside the hospital "system" for a long
time, I would think you have a lot to say about what goes on behind
the scenes. I've never had trouble with hospital care, but I've always had
insurance coverage too.

It takes one incident like this to erase thousands of times where people have taken an extra step to insure someone's health.

Here is another tidbit about healthcare.

Should you ever have a problem in a hospital setting, for example, there is an error in what medicine you are given-either the wrong one or the wrong amount- you might have a reaction..


THAT is what the note in your chart may say.
But, another form called something like an "Unusual Occurrence" report will be filled out and sent to a Quality Assurance department.

In big bold letters at the top of the form it states something like....

"DO NOT FILE WITH PATIENT CHART- DO NOT COPY - SEND TO QA DEPARTMENT"

It might describe a nurse at a shift change not paying attention to what they are doing..They make a mistake-but you have a "reaction".

------------

A resident surgeon who accidentally cuts a patient's vein, causing that patient to die on the OR table has the same form filled out.


The family is told that the patient had complications during the procedure.
:rolleyes:

[Edwina's Secretary]

Micheal Moore has just released his next waste of celluloid, "Sicko".

And again Moore chooses not to tell the story, he parks his moron arse in the middle of the it.

Just so we are clear....the opinion expressed is based on seeing "a clip" and what the accusedly-biased media has said...

Just so we are clear.... :D :D :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :D :D

[Marigold2]

Did this woman's family speak to her family physican, did anyone in her family speak to a Dr directly or a nurse? Why didn't her family pick her up off the floor?

[RICHARD]

Just so we are clear....the opinion expressed is based on seeing "a clip" and what the accusedly-biased media has said...

Just so we are clear.... :D :D :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :D :D

Let's see, MM walking and talking to the camera,
MM making statements that have no merit to them.
MM being MM.

I'd rather watch Oprah clips.

[Edwina's Secretary]

Did this woman's family speak to her family physican, did anyone in her family speak to a Dr directly or a nurse? Why didn't her family pick her up off the floor?

Marigold...with a due respect...did you read the article? This is a county hospital. I doubt she had a family doctor. In this type of setting you see whatever doctor is next.

She and her family BEGGED for help.

I am going to assume that when you are dying and in HORRIBLE pain because your feces are pouring into your abdomenal cavity from the rupture in your bowel....sitting up in a plastic chair is less comfortable than lying down...for which the floor was her only choice. There aren't many chaise lounges in the waiting room at a county hospital.

Her husband as well as another patient waiting to be seen both called 911 -- who could do nothing for the reasons mentioned.

[cassiesmom]

Did you know that there are "laws/rules" set up that limit the time that you spend in a hospital for any illness?And if you develop complications from that illness and overstay the insurance company will not pay?

Also, at the HMO I worked at, It was known that the docs HAD to discharge sick people because the hospital would not get paid.



I'm an insurance nurse. I can't avoid responding to this post.

Should you develop complications from an illness and "overstay" it is inaccurate to say that insurance will not pay. The reason that you are in the hospital changes. Example: if you have an appendectomy and then come down with pneumonia - you have stayed in the hospital because of the pneumonia, not necessarily the appendectomy. There are many factors that go into determining how claims are paid. The only situation I know of where a claim is outrightly not paid is if the patient's insurance is not effective - if their plan has lapsed. Otherwise it MUST be looked at before we can determine if it will or won't be paid.

Insurance never tells doctors that their patients must be discharged because the physician or hospital is at risk of non-payment. The decision to discharge a patient is ALWAYS between the physician and the patient. This is not the first insurance I have worked for and my previous employer had the same practice. We don't force patients out of the hospital.

The whole issue of how people without health insurance do (or do not) receive health care makes me so MAD! I'd like to climb up to the top of the Sears Tower and scream. That wouldn't do any good, though. I think this sad case just adds to the argument that something has to change.

[Cataholic]

I heard/read something recently that really made alot of sense to me.

Health CARE is a "right".

Health INSURANCE is a "priviledge".

When we start making excuses for what the people inside the ER did, our problem is evident. It doesn't matter if this person was from mars, to die in an ER, when prevention was two feet away is a crime.

Oh, but wait! They have the tort system to fight the good fight still...right?

Oh, but wait! Tort (de)form took that away from them too.

[sandragonfly]

not more than nine months ago, a girl with a really bad blood infection who just had lost her medical insurance because of moving (oh, from state to another) admitted into ER only with 10% chance of living.. she was crawling fragile in pain and in her vomit puddles, doesn't matter if it was blood or not. or waiting three days at home of hoping I'll feel better matters either.

and what if I died in those 8 hours of waiting? oh well, just because they thought I abuse the hospital. :mad:

there are some honest people out there, do have a feel about all this - three sides. I am tired of hearing hospital's defenses as well too.

[Edwina's Secretary]

Let's see, MM walking and talking to the camera,
MM making statements that have no merit to them.
MM being MM.

I'd rather watch Oprah clips.

I just think reviews should be given by people who have actually SEEN the movie. I haven't so I won't make a comment on the merits of the movie or of MM's comments.

I have some videotapes of Oprah's show. Shall I send them to you? :D :D

[Marigold2]

The woman's boyfriend did not speak English? Was there anyone around that did understand what he was trying to say? Could the patient speak English? I would hate to think that she was ignored like that. I cannot believe that not just one but many people walked away from her and left her to die. Perhaps they thought she was drunk or on drugs. Perhaps they had more urgent cases they had to tend to first. I don't think we have all the info here. I work with nurses and dr's everyday and I have NEVER met any who would knowingly ignore a patient who is suffering and in pain. Lets wait till we have all the facts before we place blame. I have seen the Dr I work for in tears over a patients death or illness. And what of all the nurses. Did they all walk away from her as well, why, why would they do that?

[Catlady711]

And what of all the nurses. Did they all walk away from her as well, why, why would they do that?

That's sorta like asking why people murder, steal, set fire to things, beat people up, do drugs, etc. For many things there is just no answer, or at least not an easily acceptable answer.

[wombat2u2004]

That's sorta like asking why people murder, steal, set fire to things, beat people up, do drugs, etc. For many things there is just no answer, or at least not an easily acceptable answer.

There's no comparison.
A nurse has a duty of care.
Wom

[Marigold2]

Wombat you are correct. This is not on the streets, this is in a hospital. I have NEVER met a nurse who would act this way.

[RICHARD]

I just think reviews should be given by people who have actually SEEN the movie. I haven't so I won't make a comment on the merits of the movie or of MM's comments.

I have some videotapes of Oprah's show. Shall I send them to you? :D :D


First of all you are asking me to admit to seeing an illegally downloaded clip....so I won't give you any more reviews. :eek:


CM,

The HMO I worked for was so into "getting people turned around" because of the fed payments.

They were so hung up on the DRG rules that they would literally ask doctors to get people out-plus, we had "Code Census" calls over the paging system....that meant the docs had to discharge patients because there were no beds in the place.

[Edwina's Secretary]

I don't think we have all the info here. I work with nurses and dr's everyday and I have NEVER met any who would knowingly ignore a patient who is suffering and in pain. Lets wait till we have all the facts before we place blame.

As described in the article...there is a videotape of the whole incident... of hospital personnel..including nurses...watching her...cleaning up AROUND her...ignoring her. Oh yes...they did call the police to remove her.

Not wanting to believe it doesn't make it any less real....

I have NEVER met a person who would abuse an animal...but regrettably I know they exist.....

[ratdogg]

I think this whole situation is a combination of many factors. I think the hospital workers get verbally abused quite often, especially in an inner city hospital. It think they have to have defenses for their own mental health and I think they are probably under appreciated. I think they may be over worked and I think they simply made a huge error. I think this is how real life is and nothing is perfect. I think this is just a sad sad situation. :( again, this is nothing but conjecture. mistakes were made. a woman died. there's always an urge to find blame, but maybe the blame doesn't need to be placed.

[Lady's Human]

Having sat in an emergency room with a BOC under 95% for a couple hours while the ER staff saw a grand total of two patients I can believe this happened.

After going through an entire albuterol inhaler (NOT recommended practice, but it was either that or pass out)and getting my lungs back to a functioning state, I left, called my doc, got a refill on the scrip and another scrip to assist, and wrote a letter to the hospital admin, return receipt requested. Got the receipt back, but never a response from the hospital.

Yes, I can believe it, and I can also believe that the hospital staff didn't care a damned bit.

[RICHARD]

wrote a letter to the hospital admin, return receipt requested. Got the receipt back, but never a response from the hospital.

Yes, I can believe it, and I can also believe that the hospital staff didn't care a damned bit.


In my experience you have to call the hosp admin office and complain loudly and in a shrill voice.

The AHs that have no complaint are the ones that get taken care of...
Had you sought legal advice or had 'counsel' contact the hosp, heaven and earth would have moved for you.

--------------------

Now, I am going to get vitrolic and very condescending.
I was scheduling surgeries for the general surgery department. I called a woman so I could get her son in.....

It was a simple surgery. I told the woman that the date was X and I would follow it up with a letter.

When I first made contact with the woman I noticed that her name and the son's name were different...I'll get blasted for this but- sometimes the different name rings a bell- It could be a blended family, a kid with the dad;s name and no dad in the picture....

This is a generalization of course, but dealing with names and people for a long time makes you think this.

Example? Mrs Smith calls for her son, Bobby.....

"This is Mrs. Smith, I want to schedule my son...."
"What is your son's name?"
"Bobby"
"Hold on......I don't see a Bobby Smith in the comp.."
'HE'S IN THERE I JUST TALKED TO THE DOCTOR!"
"He's not in there....."
"YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT BOBBY JONES DOES NOT EXIST?"

Anyway, I wake this woman up at 2 p.m.
She doesn't have any info on the kid.
She yells at the kid to get the insurance card.
She mumbles thru the time I give her two dates and
tell her she will get follow up info.

----------

A few days later my boss drags me into the office and asks me why I haven't schedule this kid....THe AH woman called to complain that I never contacted her......I showed my boss that all the documentation that I made contact, had dates for the appts. and sent out a letter.

I had to call this SFB and confirm those dates....

"Oh, I forgot you called..."

---------------

I apologize for your effed up 'treatment' in that ER.

I had a great deal of pride for many years to do my job.

Sometimes the stupid people that you deal with eff it up for everyone that follows- no excuse for treating people badly.....but....