Learn how to navigate the medical care maze

#Middlebury #Veterans

It’s easy to get lost in the shuffle of medical care. When something is wrong, you need to know what it is, and quickly. That didn’t happen with a veteran in New York.

For that veteran there was a delay in finding out about abnormal test results. Policies say that if the results require intervention or action, the patient needs to hear from the ordering provider in seven days. If that provider isn’t available, each medical facility must have a surrogate, someone charged with handling the test results. In other words, the results just don’t get lost somewhere and forgotten.

For the veteran above, there was a 36-day delay. The person who ran the tests quickly passed along the results to the surrogate provider … who sat on them for 28 days. After handing them off to the next in line in the hierarchy (the chief of staff), the veteran was finally notified eight additional days later.

In another case there was a problem with ambulance transport. A provider told paramedics to transport a veteran to a certain civilian hospital because the closest civilian hospital didn’t have the proper equipment. The doctor personally called the hospital and verified that information. The paramedics, however, decided to take the patient to the closest civilian hospital. They later had to pick up the veteran and take him to the correct hospital.

This leaves it to you, the patient, to ask questions. Specifically you want to know: When will the medical test results be ready? Who will have those results? Get the name and phone number. If you’re transported by ambulance and can communicate, ask where you’re being taken.

The more medical people you query along the way, the better your chances of being listened to and finding the one with the information you need. Be persistent.

© 2020 King Features Synd., Inc.