I think reacting to one of chubbyemu's (Dr. Bernard Hsu) case report videos would be super interesting from your perspective. I would love to see that!
This is an idea I love. Bernard is a friend of mine. We had originally been planning to meet up in the Bay Area in March 2020, but it was postponed thanks to covid…
That anesthesia forgetting thing has never happened to me and I come out of it completely wide awake and not at all groggy, hospital staff always comment on it
You have the most unappreciated job on the planet! YOU EVS CREW, Y’ALL ARE THE BEST!!!! And there’s no way in hell it takes 20 minutes to have a room thoroughly disinfected/Sanitized
My dad was a housekeeping aide at VA and he loved it when he was assigned to clean surgical rooms. He said it wasn’t as boring as cleaning patient rooms and being busy made the time pass by faster. Y’all must have wills and stomachs of steel. Hats off to y’all doing the dirty work 🙇♀️
I so appreciate pharmacists. Hubby got a new job so we got new insurance. I’ve spent the last 15 years honing in on the appropriate medicine just to have to start over. Migraines and heartburn were hell for the first 9 months here. 🤬 health insurance. Thank god to the docs and pharmacist that fought for me.
@@mirrrstery Prior Authorization = "We're more than likely capable of filling your prescription right this minute, but under your current insurance, we're actually not _allowed_ to fill it until the pharmacist calls your _doctor_ so _he_ can call the _insurance company_ so _they_ can take maybe 2 whole days to decide if your medication is _'really'_ necessary (because of course neither your doctor nor your pharmacist could _possibly_ know what they're doing) and then send their response back down the line so some poor pharmacy technician can tell you to your whether it was approved (and you'll have to wait while it's filled) or denied (so the pharmacy can't help you and you'll have to either pay full-price for this prescription or go back to your doctor and get a new prescription for a similar medication that your insurance will hopefully be more willing to pay for)."
Surgical tech here. Depending on the case, a 20 minute turnover is usually darn good. Too many surgeons never take into account that turnover begins when the patient leaves the room, not when the surgeon leaves the room.
Im a hospital frequent flyer here in Canada. At one of my stays, the same man, Lewis, came every day to clean and tidy my room for me. We would chat and laugh while he worked and i always told him how grateful i was for his help. One day, my surgical team came in while he was making things nice and we were all chatting. I said to Lewis that he and his co-workers were the most important people in the hospital. He looked surprised and asked why? I said because without you guys working so hard to make this place clean, the drs and surgeons cant do their jobs! My surgical team all agreed and i could see Lewis stand a bit taller. He looked so proud and happy! But its the truth! People think the medical folks are the most important but its the support staff that keep a,hospital running so they can save lives.
I work in the Vet field but the same goes for us. Everyone is just as important in making things run smoothly, from Veterinarians down to front of house staff. If any section in missing then everything grinds to a halt.
I work in pathology (I'm a cytotech) and yes each piece of equipment has a name (with laminated name tags - our service reps know them by their names) and yes I love my microscopes and sometimes dress them in hats for the holidays.
My favorite physical therapist has a skeleton which during the height of COVID-19 wore a mask (very responsible!) and also a hat and shawl in winter when the rooms still had to be aired on a regular basis. Because plastic skeletons have feelings, too!
I'm a nurs in Ireland 🇮🇪. No prior authorisation ever needed here from insurance. And guess what, investigations are never unnecessarily ordered. I'll never complain about our healthcare system again!
I appreciate it! Not Ireland but the people I’ve heard from England complain about their system because they, god forbid, have to pay taxes is infuriating. They act like we’re so lucky because we can “go to any Doctor”, and claim they can’t. Which might be true for them, but unless we want to pay out of pocket we definitely can’t just see any Doctor. Not to mention they still get free healthcare because of those taxes. What we get? More money spent on the military. Sorry I’m not sympathetic.
It really is remarkable how the US refuses to learn from everything being done so much better in the healthcare systems of all of it's allies in Europe and East Asia. Imagine all of your friends have solved a proof in a higher mathematics class, some slightly differently from others but all with a fairly good solution, but you're still sitting there trying to find a different way to do it, struggling even as all those friends have offered to show you how it's done. That's how the US has been running it's healthcare system with all allies watching in dismay.
@@DeathnoteBB The only English people who dislike the NHS are people who want to privatise it to make a lot of money, like in America. Most people here are very appreciative of the NHS
Patient in the US here. Take yourself a victory lap and don’t even worry about not complaining. I’ve got ya covered. I’ll bitch me self blue in the face if I thought it’d change anything other than my blood pressure. I’ve worked in IT for ~20 years. More than 10 of that without health insurance, or functionally without health insurance. A few years ago I got hired by an amazing company, and a year later lucked into a staph infection because I hate going to the dentist [Cuz I thought it would hurt. Ha! More on that later] Anywho, the resulting open heart surgery and related ICU time, not to mention the 12 weeks on Vancomycin [all the skin sloughed off my feet after they swelled up like pontoons. That’s a thing that really happens] - ended up costing a little shy of US$2,000,000. My piece was little over $300. Literally anywhere else I’ve ever worked in my life, I would just be dead. Period. Full stop. The window between “I don’t feel so good” and “You’re maybe 3 days from Dead” was such that I wouldn’t have even had time to make a GoFundMe before the thousands of dollars a day bills started coming in. Caught in that wide hellscape of ‘Making too much for Medicare /Medicaid’ but ‘Too little to buy meaningful insurance by myself.’ It’s luck as much as anything else I got this job. It infuriates me to think a simple coin flip, random happenstance, decides if I get a thoroughly understood, lifesaving treatment, or my child finds out if an impulse buy life insurance policy covers drivers’ education. America is different because we don’t let our people die in the streets. Any public hospital in America has to treat you, regardless of ability to pay. That is such hopeful bullshit. They have to stabilize you. They don’t have to administer ongoing chemo to cancer patients, or arrange surgery for those circling the drain, or provide expensive antibiotics if you’re well enough to take them as an outpatient, even briefly. If you don’t have the presence of mind to be wealthy or have a ridiculously generous employer, you don’t die in the streets; you die at home with an order to follow up with your primary care provider as soon as you can afford the co-payment. Apologies for the rant. This is a subject I’m particularly vocal regarding
I’m a retired 30+ year ER/ICU RN. We would fight over scheduling for the 4th of July worse than any other holiday in the ER. It is the worst, bar none, holiday to work in the ER. Explosives, drinking, heat, water sports - the perfect storm!
I think here in Germany it's either carnival ( = excuse to get black out drunk for some people) or, dear heavens, Oktoberfest in Munich. The pubs are making money hand over fist while the various emergency services (DRK = German Red Cross and others) are calling in every volunteer they've got.
The part about getting authorization for an MRI is so right on. People like to say about universal healthcare that they don’t want the government coming between them snd their doctor. Yet, the greedy insurance companies come between us and our doctors all the time.
You do realize that Canadians come to the United States for procedures that need to be done immediately and don't mind paying out of pocket for them right? So for all your so called great universal health care you forget to mention that the government has the literal final say on whether you live or die. That 6 weeks of PT in this video? It's a ten month wait for surgery on cancer.
@Rants Of A Grumpy Old Lady fortunately reality doesn't require your belief. This has been a thing since the 80s with Canada. The wait times for emergency life saving procedures is ludicrous to thr point that even with their taxes already paying for Healthcare they pay out of pocket to come here. We produce the lions share of medical advancements the globe over. Let's stop pretending this system is so bad
@@mikesixx7655 They don’t - by and large - but US rich often go to Canada, Ireland, and even Mexico to save money. Also in the US the insurance company literally has final say on whether you live or die. Also as someone with family going through surgery for cancer they’ve waited 8 and 10 months for two separate surgeries and were denied a third by insurance. In the US
I had a brain tumor and I was scheduled for surgery at the best hospital in the area when the insurance company called to let me know that there was another hospital in the area that would do it for less money. We declined. Not going to go for the cheaper option for brain surgery. I had already reached max out of pocket 2 days before being diagnosed with the brain tumor because I had my baby. I’m sure the insurance company hated me.
@@susanferretti5781, Thank you. I’ve been in remission for 5 years and I’m back to teaching piano lessons and my kids keep me busy. The doctors told me that my son saved my life because swelling from the pregnancy be caused me to have seizures. About 12 hours after he was born, I had a seizure in the hospital. The neurologist who wasn’t supposed to be there that day ordered a MRI and I was diagnosed with brain cancer shortly after that. The tumor had been there slowly growing for more than 5 years, but up until that point, my only symptoms had been headaches.
@@ElizabogadaCraniotomy, I’ve had 2 now. I’m doing pretty well now. It’s been over 5 years. The tumor was along the motor strip and I have transient weakness on the left side. I was paralyzed on the left side for 2 weeks after surgery, but I go jogging a few times a week now. I still trip from time to time because of that left leg, but I’m getting more physical therapy to help with that. How are you?
I will never forget the ebullient surgeon who came to report on my daughter's appendectomy, "That was 19 minutes and 40 seconds; I am awesome!". She was in very good shape and came home the next day.
I am a radiologist and I really do appreciate that this trauma surgeon understands the role and importance of clinical history when we interpret the images and I can assure you that he probably has excellent relations with radiologists. Granted, 99.9 percent of cases sent from ED will just say autopopulated indication such as ‘trauma’ so we just end up looking at the patient’s chart.
I am so glad to live in Canada. I told my family doctor that I was experiencing chest pain. Within 3 months I had a stress test, cardiac Catheterization, echocardiogram, appointments with a cardiologist and cardiac surgeon and a double bypass. I spent three and a half days in the intensive care unit, 2 and a half days on the nursing floor. Now receiving cardiac rehabilitation in person with a physiotherapist and nurse. My only expense has been parking fees. Our medical care isn’t “free”…we pay a premium based on income at tax time and through our provincial and federal taxes. I wouldn’t want it any other way. I want all my fellow citizens to be cared for in the same way.
@@lorriefinley3129 have you tried scheduling with a specialist in the US? 3 months is great for a lot of specialties. Now that number is dependent on where you are and which specialty you're going for, but 3 to 6 months before you can get into see a specialist is not unusual. And we have the added benefit of not knowing if our insurance covers it until after our appointment.
@Not-Homesick NG I was referring to Cardiac symptoms. For other conditions, I will wait 3-6 months. But not for something that I could stroke out from. (RN here)
The insurance approval process is a nightmare. My son was catatonic and close to death and the doctor for the insurance company denied further hospital coverage before a full diagnosis was even figured out. That doctor had the nerve to say, “Maybe this is as good as this kid gets.” The only way we got through this mess was because our state has a fund to take care of situations like this...because it’s such a huge issue that insurance companies just won’t budge when it comes to coverage for rare diseases they don’t fully understand. Thankfully, he got diagnosed and treated (for a lifelong, progressive rare disease) despite zero further help from insurance.
@@SugarandSarcasm better yet, the person at insurance companies needs to be an MD. with all of the certifications required to be an MD. At most insurance companies it's someone who's never even looked at a medical text book making the decision to keep you alive or kill you. Frankly I don't want some kid who knows nothing about medical practices overriding my doctor because the procedure is more expensive than my life insurance payout.
I think that's one of the things that makes me so mad about all those stupid, stupid conspiracy theories about Brandon's Laptop or Hillary's Emails or the flat earth or whatever: People are wasting their time and energy to make a big show about that nonsense, instead of protesting about all the insane BS that insurances do every darn day.
@@thomasschulz2167 Insurance company medical directors are MDs but they know who signs their paychecks. They will not be your friend in this situation.
Oh my gosh, I had really bad eczema during this last year and I was unable to do the things that would help more because insurance wouldn't cover the treatment that my dermatologist knew was required from the get go. Multiple months later and I finally have the medication I needed AND IT'S WORKING. I mean, think about how much money insurance would have saved if they had just listened to the prescribing health professional from the get go.
@@seeker296 The thing is there’s probably backdoor deals going on that in the end make them more. No idea what, but if it truly made them more money they’d do it
You wanna know what's worse, and happened to my uncle? When they insist they won't cover a treatment until you've done a full trial of one you only did a partial trial of before stopping... because you discovered you were deathly allergic to the meds used (hives, fever, anaphylaxis, and syncope. Would've died if he lived alone bc he fainted before he could call 911 or use his epipen, he fainted with the latter in his hand. His wife heard him fall and rushed in, saw him holding an uncapped epipen and used it on him before calling 911) And they won't listen to that explanation and accept that it means the treatment failed you, therefore, you still aren't approved for the treatment with a 98% success rate in treating your condition with only a 0.06% rate of complications (defined here as problems serious enough to make one stop the treatment early, or problems lasting significantly beyond the duration of the treatment). And for the record, the treatment they wanted first was one that had a 32% success rate and a 4% chance of complications. 4% of people with that issue and insurance company aren't ever going to be approved for the good treatment because they, like my uncle, can't handle the bad one. He ended up paying for it 100% out of pocket. And then there's the inverse problem, for MY condition, my insurance company was like "I see you've applied for IVIG, which has a 85% success rate. We can't approve that, you'll have to get plasmapheresis instead, as that has a 90% success rate". Plasmapheresis is always (fine, only about 99% of the time) followed by IVIG, takes significantly longer and is more painful, has more risks, and the out of pocket portion was almost as expensive as the IVIG would've been on its own if we paid for it ourselves (well, it was about 70% the cost, and so we ended up paying for IVIG instead).
@@CaTastrophy427 I have no idea what the medical treatment in question was, but when my family encountered a situation like that, we just let insurance pay for the meds (it was fully paid for) for the trial length but no one took the meds. Doctor then reported it didn't work so family member could move on to the next stage of treatment. It was a waste of medication and everyone's time, but it got around insurance's stupid rules.
Hi! I know this is completely personal and if you're uncomfortable I understand but would you mind sharing what medication *did* work for you? I'm newly diagnosed with eczema on my hands and it hurts. Well, the eczema itches but the skin cracking and splitting *hurts* so bad at times. And right now I get like a day, maybe two, before the cycle just repeats. I've got creams galore and they don't seem to work long term ☹ thanks in advance!
Gosh the pathology one seems so true to me. As a med student when my dad told other doctors his planned specialty, psychiatry, most of them sort of scoffed at it (this was in the early 90s before psychiatry was as well accepted as a medical field), but the pathologists were very supportive.
Absolutely. I am a patient, not a Dr, and my psychiatric Dr LITTERALLY saved my life. I have been going to him for 20+ years and he diagnosed my bipolar illness, patiently trying to find the best medications for ME. I have never ever felt just like a "patient", he sees me as a person. He knows my family situation etc. Psychiatry is very underestimated, people should realise that they actually is treating life threatening illnessess too. (I got diagnosed in 1997)
I'm an x-ray tech, can't tell you how many times patients get upset with me that they aren't getting an MRI straightaway. 1) I did not order your x-rays. 2) I did not create our BS healthcare/insurance situation. But by all means, keep voting for the jokers who do!
Yeah getting mad at the radiologist is kinda rude and pointless considering it isn't them ordering it or denying coverage. I just get annoyed when either insurance or doctors insists they do a CTA/CTV/Fluoroscopy instead of MRA/MRV when my singular life threatening allergy is iodonated contrast 🤦 literally every time I have to have the same conversation even though it's very clear in my records lol
@@DeathnoteBB Well, yes. Around here we have a mandatory coverage package set by the government that you must offer, and you can't actually deny anyone who applies. You don't want that? Then you're not allowed to be an insurance company, simple. This means there's a level playing field and competition is actually based on quality and prices. We even have an insurer who advertises that they make no profit. Sometimes they operate at a small loss and cover it from investments they made elsewhere. In other words, the regulations make sure there's no conflict between the healthcare motive and the profit motive. This is great, because as long as that's the case, the awesome power of capitalism is providing excellent healthcare. Things go wrong when the profit motive is against the healthcare motive. No BS like in the US where coverage is arbitrary and you can be denied from insurance if you cost too much.
That is so true about prior auths! I had an insurance company ask why a patient needed a repeat c-section and what went wrong with the last one. I had to explain that it was a new and different pregnancy. That took a lengthy explanation. It is sad just how accurate it is. Insurance companies are for profit and it is their job to deny care. Insurance companies also decide how much you will pay for your care. Not the hospital, not the doctor, the insurance company decides what you will pay.
They're also the reason you pay 2000 instead of 150,000 soooooo y'know. Hospitals hands are just as dirty when it comes the the money dept. Insurance companies honestly have to negotiate complete bullshit prices hospitals push out CONSTANTLY.
@@troubledcourier8795 hospitals have to push out higher prices just to get reasonable compensation. Before insurance companies took over healthcare in the 80's and 90's, hospital costs were pretty reasonable. People could even pay for care using things like bushels of vegetables or a cow. That changed rapidly when insurance became the norm. The same groups of people who own insurance companies also own the hospital groups. They are making money hand over fist. If a company makes 20 billion profit in a year and the next year makes 19 billion in profit, they get to write off that 1 billion difference as a loss on taxes. You can't do the same thing.
@@MiracleFound yeah, that would only make sense if the majority of hospital visits weren’t from patients on government provided insurance such as Medicare and Medicaid. They DO set the compensation so low that hospitals have to overcharge to get adequate compensation and by law can’t refuse to treat people with Medicaid or Medicare without losing many other government benefits. By the time insurance companies come along to fleece patients they’re already dealing with a corrupt system accustom to overcharging. Then insurance and the hospital lobby for government support allowing them to just charge more. All you have to do to fix this is force hospitals to have transparent prices for procedures and let the market drive hospitals to compete for patients by lowering prices or providing better care.
@@Billsbob there was transparent pricing before the insurance companies took over healthcare and jacked all the prices up. I have worked in hospitals since 1977 and watched this happen. The government pays minimum reimbursement, especially Medicaid. It is the insurance companies who run healthcare now. Did you know that United Healthcare, Express Scripts, Metropolitan Life, American Family and a host of other companies are all owned by the same group of people under a variety of company names? Some of them are also part of Blue Cross Blue Shield, Humana, and other smaller companies? Centene, who makes huge profits off of Medicaid, also shares some owners. This same group also own 3 major hospital chains. When all this went down, healthcare in this country became expensive and inefficient. This is why we are rivaling 3rd world countries for poor healthcare outcomes. Cuba and Mexico have better healthcare than we do.
@@troubledcourier8795 it's the opposite. They're the reason for ridiculous prices in the first place. If the hospital charged a reasonable price, the insurance company would negotiate it down further. The hospitals have to negotiate with the insurance company to be paid a reasonable amount, which is what drives up the cost for uninsured people. Universal healthcare would cut out most of the negotiating and bullshit
My first job was as a phlebotomist in a small hospital. I will never understand why no one wants to hang out with the lab (bias disclaimer: both parents are lab techs). It’s just us and the Path people hanging out doing most of the quantitative science hidden away from the nursing v doctor drama. Very peaceful, very quiet. About the only part of the lab that has drama is blood bank.
You are right. When I worked in the clinical lab at a small hospital (MLT at the time), my coworkers and I would get called vampires by the nursing staff. On the rare occasions one of them would have to stop by to drop something off, often they seemed a bit spooked by the environment. I never understood why. It's the best part of the hospital.
I am a blood banker at a level 1 trauma hospital. It is absolutely insane I send out hundreds of products per day. One patient has taken 500 products before
I think Dr Glaucomflecken is hilarious even though I'm not a doctor/ nurse. I do especially love his take on specialists. Its interesting to see your reaction to his comedy gold.
As a student at Temple, I too spent a few minutes on the helipad with Dr. Goldberg and team July 4, 2010. Once you said portable grill, I knew you must’ve spent some time at TUH. Thank you for the happy recollection, Doc! 🦉
Before becoming an claims examiner I was a prior authorization coordinator for a IPA in Los Angeles. That is so fucking true. One time there was a patient who was playing tennis and he planted his foot and felt his knee pop. The Ortho said it was most likely a ACL tear and needed to get a MRI to confirm. I shit you not, they denied it and requested the patient do 3-4 weeks of inflammatory medicine first. The doctor resubmitted it a week later, yes a week later and said he completed the regiment . They denied it again and said he needed to got to PT, fucking PT when he can move his leg. Finally he got approved after he filed a complaint. I've seen so many fucked up things happen, including people getting written up for sending too many approval request. Yes they will send you to another facility to get a MRI done that's super far. If you know the Los Angeles area, one time we send a patient in North Hollywood to Oxnard to get a MRI done.
had a patient come in to pick up their biologic meds for a severe autoimmune disorder. their new insurance only wanted to cover first line medications (steroids). totally inappropriate medication therapy.
@@cmxsprt yes it is cheaper to just have universal healthcare. All it takes is one hospital trip to completely dwarf your tax burden for a universal healthcare system.
It was a while before I saw the pathologist for the first time in his videos. I'd been waiting. My aunt, who I lived with growing up, is a hematopathologist. The moment I saw Dr. G's pathologist, I knew. He was exactly her, minus the attachment to Tabitha (the microscope). My aunt bought a condo for me to live in during college, paid for my senior year tuition once my scholarships ran out, paid for my grad school apartment (and IIRC my grad school itself), gave me a car, and just spent a bunch of money renovating one of her rental properties so my husband, son, and I could live in it rent-free while we save up the money to buy our own place. She also paid for the procedure and storage fees for me to have eggs frozen when there were fertility concerns for me, and paid for my dental care growing up. Beyond her financial generosity, she is just one of the nicest, most likeable people ever. My ex-boyfriend (also an ex at the time) came to stay with us for a few days while he was visiting someone in town, and he was like, "Your aunt is so bubbly." No one could so much as dislike her. Best person ever. I don't think she even really saw the similarity between herself and Dr. G's pathologist in terms of personality 😂
I'm a medical biologist so don't (or hardly) work with patients but purely in the lab. One time I was at the microscope and one of the PhD's came in, said "If you start talking to your cells, it's time for a holiday". I reacted to that statement much like our dear pathologist here xD
My Granddad started a biomedical repair business many many years ago. As a child, I used to go with my dad for PMs (periodic maintenance) on all sorts of lab equipment...tissue processors, microtomes, microscopes, cryostats...all of it. By the time I was 14, I could service them all. I promise...it's not useless information 😅
One of the ORs I worked at was in a teaching hospital. After a particularly MESSY surgery, the Ortho surgeon and his attending threw down mops to help us turn over. I will never forget that. I've always felt the surgeon can complain and slow us down, help and get the room done faster (particularly when there's blood and water EVERYWHERE), or just go away and come back when the next patient is in the room. Amazing how many chose option 1, but the option 2 folks are made of gold.
My name is Mark Elliott. I have 32 years in military medicine. I was a Navy Corpsman for 22 years ( 6 years 7 months active and the rest Reserves as an FMF corpsman) and a National Guard Health Specialist for 10 years. I just got to see you, I like you and your reactions to the Dr. Glaucomflecken video ( who I like to lol at also, because of his kernels of truth in them). I look forward to see your more serious videos. Thank you.
Mad respect. No experience like military medicine experience. Are they letting you guys move into civilian medicine if you choose to yet? I was floored when I first heard it doesn't always transfer. Crazy.
@dejuren because he is proud of his service and we are as well. Celebrating someone's service is nice. Nice to be nice because too many are negative nellys who try to take the wind of others sails.
The one about insurance had me both laughing and crying. I've had chronic respiratory infections for almost a decade -- starting in middle school. I get sick for about a week every 2 1/2 months. I've been tested for cystic fibrosis and primary ciliary diskinesia, I've had 3 sinus surgeries, and I see an ENT, 2 pulmonologists, and an immunologist. Trying to deal with insurance so that I can see all my doctors when I need to see them has been so frustrating for me and my mom. At the same time, I'm really glad we have insurance because otherwise I wouldn't be able to see my doctors and my parents wouldn't have been able to pay for my surgeries. Then again, it's also extremely frustrating because my doctors still don't know why I get sick. And I have similar problems with chronic pain. Medical care in America has *soooo* much room for improvement.
Any chance you have ME/CFS? Consider looking at the full description on Emerge Australia because there are a cluster of symptoms. I get respiratory infections all the time but also have the heart, gastrointestinal, fatigue, brain fog and other issues. I don’t have too much issue with severe chronic pain but a lot of ME/CFS sufferers do.
Has it resolved cus sub clinical true food allergies can cause that. I suggest a good symptom journal, look for wet ears, swollen belly, not just actually sickness. This has been known in non human animals for ages, but only recently did it become clear it also happens in humans. Best of luck.
Doc, idk how you do not get discouraged with the insurance red tape that you have to go through but I am loving your reaction vids! Keep up the good work! P.s. love the analog clock behind you!
Insurance companies are evil! They prey on the vulnerable and take advantage of people in their darkest times. My dad had 2 small strokes a little over 10 years ago. We noticed some changes in him after that. We said something to his GP and he ordered a cognitive test. He passed it but barely. So the insurance company made my parents pay out of pocket for the "unnecessary" test. Turns out he was probably showing early signs of Alzheimers. He was also later diagnosed with vascular dementia and since it we noticed changes after small strokes that was 100% an early sign. We had to wait until his cognitive abilities got really bad before they were willing to approve any more cognitive testing. Thankfully when he got a new GP after another stroke, the new one was much better at helping us fight the insurance company.
It’s funny how the camaraderie working over holidays are universal. I work at a grocery store, we typically have snacks in the break room over holidays, normally finished but cancelled orders corporate lets us eat instead of damaging out.
As a Sterile Processing tech, I appreciate you so much for this video!! Thank you! It always feels like no one recognizes what we do since we have our own space out of direct sight of the OR.
It is so true about Pathology and their microscopes. I am a pathology tech and pathologist are attached to their scopes. I had a resident once turn in his scope at the end of schooling and he cried and wanted his scope back.
The prior authorizations is an extremely accurate and painful reminder of what I went through trying to get my father help when he lost the ability to swallow. He died a few days ago because of all the shit the insurance company caused us just trying to save his life. 😭🤬☠
I wonder if you've seen the Dr. G origin story video for trauma surgery, where a general surgeon was caught charting in the emergency department and was cornered and converted by the doctors there. I'm also curious what your thoughts would be on breaking down how certain cases are surgically managed from the start. For example, a known "high profile" case would be when rapper 50 cent was shot nine times. He was shot in the chest, arm, hand, legs, hip, and face if I recall correctly. How would that type of scenario be managed starting from he beginning?
Very happy I’m Canadian. No nonsense with administration getting involved with medical issues. Doctors don’t even worry about getting approvals and I can choose any doctor I want. This whole coverage issue and deductibles is so foreign to me.
Same, expect the long wait to see a specialist (in the province of Quebec at least). I had to wait 7 months to see a dermatologist… by the time I saw them my problem was almost completely gone. Thank God I had pictures from when it was bad.
@@AGirlNamedSomething I don't think the wait times are due to Universal health care. I'm in America, I have top of the line medical insurance and I'm a nurse. I had to wait 4 months to see a dermatologist! It's that less people are becoming doctors. It's brutal on the doctor and their family. The smart people who could have gone to med school are going into careers that don't take 12 years of schooling and residency. Only to start working at 30 years old and have half a million dollar school loan to pay off! As the population continues to grow and less doctors graduate it's harder to get an appt in a timely manner.
@@MParentWetmore yup, Here in the UK the main issue for hospitals is overcrowding and short staffing, along with (at least for NHS England) chronic issues with admin leading to significant waste in a system where really as much of the money as possible should be going into treatments. At my old local hospital the A&E had wait times of ~2-4 hours pre pandemic, but for sure after those waits the treatment of injuries was exemplary. Where I live now the wait times in the A&E is shorter (sub 1 hour) but once again, doctors do an amazingly good job despite the constant talk of strain on our Health Service due to underfunding and mismanagement for decades.
Well you're giving Canada too much credit. We still deal with insurance companies for most prescriptions, optical care, and dental care outside of emergencies.
@@MParentWetmore Amen. My wife and I are both physicians. My daughter is a very bright highschooler (think straight A's from birth, and enough AP credits to start college as a junior). Neither of us suggest she consider medicine.
When I first saw his tik toks on the insurance, I was hoping it was been greatly exaggerated, but to have confirmation that's its basically spot on just sickens me. This would explain alot of stuff from growing up.
I honestly do not get the brain MRI approval thing. American health care system is the most ridiculous thing. I just had a diagnostic angiogram and echo. Granted it's not MRI but it got approved immediately and it took a week from booking to actually having it done...and I didn't pay for anything. I live in Australia. It's sad this entire "for profit" situation. *EDIT: That's not even me touching my private insurance.
because insurance companies make money by denying you coverage. The more they can deny, the more money they make, so they are actively incentivized to deny you as much as possible. This is why private insurance is so stupid and is basically a scam. They will do everything within their power to deny you the one service you are paying them for.
@@eragon78 luckily private health insurers in Australia aren’t that cruel helped by the fact that there’s more regulation of them. I can’t tell you how many CT scans, MRIs, x-rays, ECGs, ultrasounds, pathology etc I’ve had in the past two years and how few I’ve paid anything out of pocket. The public health system and my private health insurance have fully covered virtually everything. I had a mammogram and breast ultrasound yesterday and had to pay half because insurance only covered 50%. My payment was $280 total. My private health insurance is just over $3k per year. Neither of those amounts are insignificant to a low income worker but compared to what you fork out in the USA it’s a drop in the ocean. Over here we all feel so sorry for you all. Terrible how your government treats you and how much they abdicate their responsibilities in favour of unfettered capitalism.
I used to do customer service for a PBM and the prior auth thing is 100% true! Most of the time there's nothing the person you first speak to over the phone can do to change it, people end up getting transferred all over the place to finally get any help/further info. It's part of the reason I quit, you feel so powerless.
I’m a medical technology student and currently attending the lab working on my Histopathology and Cytogenetics Technology course. The mention of a microtome is not useless to me Doc! We have a rotary microtome in our lab and our preceptors honor it so much, like an extension of themselves.
I can’t stop laughing hearing your responses and giggles. I was an X-Ray TECHNOLOGIST (not technician 😉) for 27 years. This video brings back a lot of good and bad memories. Shall I tell you about an Ortho surgeon and a scalpel???
@@phoebegilliland8897 Well, it was in the early 90s, night shift, trauma straight to the OR. Something/Someone pissed off the Ortho Surgeon = scalpel flying through the air and hits the wall next to me. Silence fills the room. Ortho surgeon continues on as if nothing happened. 🤦♀️
You just popped in my algorithm, I love it ! I'm also dying over some of these as someone who has had 10 surgeries and was told I tried to get up mid surgery more than once. 🤣
Oooh, as an IBD patient talking about failing meds just triggered so many flashbacks. Five or six different meds before one that worked. And they made me fail regular Budesonide before giving Budesonide ER (Uceris). I had pancolitis. I need all the extended release I can get. And made me fail mesalamine first. I was not a mild case. Mesalamine did nothing! Like throwing ping pong balls at a tiger. Useless, didn't even stop me from getting worse.
I was amused by the clock demonstrating that you're living in non-linear time. Is that normal for all surgeons? Could you use that to bypass changeover time?
I have a severe tear my right shoulder’s supraspinatus tendon; I was sent for an x-ray first. Seriously? For a soft tissue injury? Of course nothing was found, except a bone spur. I had to to do 12 rounds of PT before I got my MRI. Ortho says, “Oh, yeah. You definitely need surgery before it gets worse and harder to repair.” I wouldn’t doubt it became a severe tear because I had to do PT first. 🤦🏻♀️ ETA: the tear didn’t come from anything “cool,” like falling or because I was deadlifting 250 pounds. Oh, no, I had to do it when I was…holding the covers up behind me in bed to let my chihuahuas get underneath. 🤦🏻♀️ One second I’m lifting and the next I have searing shoulder pain.
Hey, don't feel bad. During the winter I break out the down comforter, duvets, matching shams, and handmade crochet coverlet and let me tell you it weighs a *ton*
Powers1217, I can relate, I have a chihuahua/jack russel and both my shoulder are shot to hell. So yes pain when letting my Sadie under the covers. Pain sleeping. I do water aerobics to avoid the surgery. Sometimes I get steroid shots. Hope your shoulder gets better!!
Seconding that every time I've brought over an intraoperative specimen from the OR its really great. Pathologists were always super excited to show us stuff and go over the slides on the scope.
My cousin was first in his class in college (full ride) and first in his class at Hopkins (full ride). He became a pathologist. The man who graduated first in my class (highest score in the USA on the National Boards) also became a pathologist. Number 2 is a neurosurgeon. The simple fact is that pathologists know everything...or just about everything. All physicians and surgeons should take maximum benefit from that. Yup, nice people, too.
I love this video!!! I have myasthenia Gravis thought that decided to bring a big ole tumor with it for the party! I went through so many tests and then retested to prove that I didn’t have a stroke. So instead of trying to find out what was wrong with me, they kept trying to prove what wasn’t wrong with me. It’s so sad how true this video is! Much love from Oklahoma! 💗💗💗
You hit the nail right on the head, they do focus on trying to prove what isn't wrong with you. I once had a doctor tell me that they "weren't going to look for something wrong". Um, I'm at the doctor because I think something is wrong? It's terrible how they focus on proving patients wrong instead of lending them some trust initially.
This video shows me (once again) how grateful 🙏 I can be for the health system in Austria. If I'm sick or injured, I don't have to worry about being able to pay for it.
I greatly appreciate you explaining what the equipment was! I have no medical background whatsoever, but I love dr. G. This comes with the price of sometimes not knowing details like this and not even knowing how to google them. I love finally having closure on that part.
I believe it about these insurance companies where they deny patient to receive any treatment since I work in med surg unit. Sometimes, my patients would have to wait up to couple months since rehab facilities the patients want to go to get denied. So the patients just stay there until the case manager can find the facilities would accept the insurances.
I've only seen two of Dr. Hindin's "reviews," but he seems like a very measured, witty, and respectful human and surgeon. I'm guessing his colleagues really enjoy working with him and learning from his expertise.
the holiday one is so true, im a vet nurse and last year i was assisting a pericardial effusion during new years, it was just me and my emergency vet, 12am, fireworks start going off and we were there, saving a dogs life. Was insane but also pretty great, dog came in with a 10% chance of survival and walked out of the clinic
I'm very grateful for medical staff that work holidays. Obviously I try to avoid visiting the hospital on holidays - on any day, but especially holidays. But I have a genetic disease and a lot of comorbid chronic illnesses, and twice in the last few years I've ended up in ER on a holiday and so appreciate how kind the staff were. I felt even worse once because it wasn't a true "emergency" or life or death - my tunneled CVC occluded - but no one but the ER can help with central lines, urgent care won't get within 20 feet of a central line, and I get IV meds every 2 hours. I kept apologizing for being there on Thanksgiving, but every nurse and physician and person I interacted with was so supportive and they made me feel so much better about needing help. Thank you to all hospital staff and healthcare workers, and especially those who show up to care for people in need even when they definitely deserve the holiday
I was in hospital because I couldn’t speak and dr Glaucomflecken was just another dr in the hospital. But he was a hero in the hospital and most people knew him . I certainly did. He made my day . This happened in Ottawa Canada and he was my hero and the staff was so impressed too. Please tell Dr Glaucomflecken he was the best part of a terrified patient's day
The exact situation you described for IBD treatment failing less effective medications first happened to me. I ended up with an ostomy because the biologics I got many years later didn't have a chance to work.
i had this experience with a patient. no matter how much the physician and I advocated for the patient, the insurance refused to cover biologics and would only cover first line medications (steroids). unless someone is stupid rich, no one can afford to pay out of pocket for them. i don’t know how it ended, but i do know that they were without appropriate meds for a at least a month or so. im so sorry this happened to you. it pisses us off too. we want patients to get the right therapy just as much as they do.
I’m so sorry that happened to you. I have Crohn’s disease and pray I never have to have an ostomy. I already had all but 13 inches of my large intestine taken out in 2001. 🤞 hope I never have surgery for it again. Now if I could stop having to have orthopedic and spine surgeries I’d have it made. Best of luck to you!
Happened to a close loved one of mine with a different digestive disorder that took a long time and multiple specialists to diagnose. "Try this medication first, the one that acts on a different part of the digestive system and so doesn't work for your specific version of the disorder." Weeks later, follow up visits, more calls from specialist: "okay here's the medication your doctor recommends." And it works to this day! The doc orders several months worth at once in order to make sure my loved one never runs out. 💓
I remember when Dr. G first came to youtube. Everyone knew his success on other platforms would give him a big boost but he just grew so fast across the board. There's humor and just gems of knowledge for medical hopefuls and participants that his success was all but guaranteed.
Your comments on pathologists crack me up! I used to work in a picture frame shop and we had a pathologist come in one day to frame some wedding photos he was giving to friends as a gift. I complimented the skill of the photographer, and it turns out he had taken them himself. He then went on to say it was VERY different to photograph people when they were up and moving around! Extremely nice guy, though, so the stereotype fit him at least!
Had a summer job in logistics at our local hospital. It was an interesting job, but I realized that it's not something a lot of people think about when it comes to hospitals. Someone needs to bring the food, medicine, fluids, take out the trash (including biohazardous materials, and the occasional limb/organ), pick up laundry, etc. There's a lot that goes in to keeping a hospital running, and a lot of it is completely missed by most people. Note: I never thought about how much trash a hospital produces every day, but it's a whole lot.
this did remind me of my time working IT at a hospital. Any call I got from a dr was an atrocity of the highest order, some of the most abuse i've ever received in all my time in IT. Nurses or pharmacists? absolutely wonderful. Was such a consistent trend that I asked one of the pharmacists what was up and they just said "yeah most of the dr are like that, you get used to it".
Hah! I went back to school to become a histotech. I got all excited when you mentioned microtomes, especially because most people generally have never heard of histology (myself included, shortly before deciding to pursue it haha) so it was cool to hear you talk about it!
I have seen a few of Dr. Glaucomflecken's videos in the past. I did find them funny, although I am not a doctor or nurse so there were a few words/terms, that I did not understand. I am happy I found your channel and you were able to put the videos into laymens terms, and explain if what he was making fun of was true. Also, I have IBD, I have had it for 17 years now, and what you said about biologics vs. other cheaper treatments is absolutely spot on. Biologics have been the only thing to put me into remission, and I had to "fail" all the other stuff first, I was really sick off and on for a few years, as before I was allowed to touch the biologics, steroids were the only thing to give me some sort of reprieve.
Re prior-auths, I HATE when it's approved.. the procedure is done.. and then a week later "oh, yeah, we re-reviewed that and had to revoke the prior auth"... grrr.
OMG! Those were so funny. And your useless information could be helpful for some, not useless (I already knew, but many others might not). Thanks for sharing and reminding me of the fun world of the hospital.
Pathetic that insurance companies over rule and control medical personnel. My mother dying from cancer purchased a wig as she lost all her hair They denied stating it was " cosmetic" I flipped out They resubmitted as a SCALP prosthetic and got it approved
I am in radiology residence, started in 2022 and got friends with a R1 pathologist who also got accepted last year. Sometimes I go to the lab to check if I suspect the correct tumor (because of course clinicians will never said and we don’t access to the pathology reports exception we go by ourself to the lab). Once I went and listened a fellow pathologist shouted to Tony: “your social dosis of the week is coming!”. I told him why I was a social dosis when he has fellow residents there: we don’t talk. I was like: 🙃? I mean I am sunlight deprived 😂 but we still speak and listen music down there.
I just learned now about prior authorizations (I'm European) and I must say, this is more than hilarious. The system was very clearly built not only to maximise profit, but also somehow minimize the patient's health?? Whereas over here, the doctor tells you you need X medication, you just drive to the nearest pharmacy and they just... give you it. And in the end you spent more on gas than on the appointment and medication cost combined! How the US still manages to be a working country has been beyond me for a while, but this is on a whole other level!
Oh, the insurance one!! After living in the US for a few years I appreciate not having private health insurance here in Canada 🙂 The pathology one was so funny!
I guess pathologists in all fields are really nice. I worked with veterinary pathologists. They were all always in a good mood. I used to work in preclinical trials collecting tissues on rats and mice at the end of drug studies. We were the pathologists’ eyes. Also did mircrotoming of tiny mice/rat adrenal glands and all their other tiny organs. Learned a lot about human anatomy from that job, because Mother Nature just keeps using the same stuff, if it works. I got excited when you described what a microtoming machine is.
A colleague of mine once tried to train in pathology but once he got to doing post mortems on babies and children he decided it wasn't for him and became a GP.
I'm old and the old stereotype for pathologists was rumpled smelled like formalin, messy white hair, glasses and grumpy. LOL. Didn't help the pathology dept was under the university hospital down 2 levels in the most ancient part of the building!
Histologist here. (Spent years working on a microtome). Some pathologists really are wonderful, but as a whole they are kind of a mixed bag. Really brilliant doctors who don't want to deal with living patients do great in pathology. Some of them are plain quirky. A few are best avoided.
I have seen your videos many times each....I love the way you react so honestly and your laughing is so contagious....please do more. Regards from Chile 🇨🇱🌷
Just gotta say that, as a Canadian, American medicine looks like an absolute nightmare. Most expensive medical system in the world and is 46th on the list of life expectancy by country. Like the women aren't expected to live past 76.
Brilliant. I've been watching Dr. Glaucomflecken! for ages and it's great to get an insight as to what's going on. He is indeed, a legend. Thanks for these insights.
U should just make a section of videos a watchlist if u will called reaction videos. And please do more . Ur explanations help a lot and I enjoy his videos and ur reactions lol
i spent 6 months dealing with horrific chronic migraines going from shitty medication to shitty medication with near constant pain and nausea until finally being allowed to be on the only that actually helped
This is cool. I've been watching Dr Glaucomflecken's shorts for a while and find them amusing, but as a non-medical and non-american lay person I'm aware I'm probably missing half the jokes, so it's kind of cool knowing the reasons/background behind the jokes.
Yep, when I used to verify for procedures at the doctors office, I work at, the insurance will insist that we try one procedure or medication before they would approve the one the doctor wanted. I remember advising one doctor, “just do this other meditation for one time, and when it fails, I can submit for the meditation you want.”
I think reacting to one of chubbyemu's (Dr. Bernard Hsu) case report videos would be super interesting from your perspective. I would love to see that!
This is an idea I love. Bernard is a friend of mine. We had originally been planning to meet up in the Bay Area in March 2020, but it was postponed thanks to covid…
That anesthesia forgetting thing has never happened to me and I come out of it completely wide awake and not at all groggy, hospital staff always comment on it
@@DavidHindin screw covid
@@DavidHindin Oh my gosh yessss. If you get the chance collaborating together would be amazing! Even through telecommuting.
@@danielwols you're telling a doctor to screw covid?
As a housekeeper in the OR, thank you for knowing that it takes longer than 2 minutes to clean and sanitize an OR. 😂
Exactly! I'm a surgical technologist so me and you witness it first hand
You have the most unappreciated job on the planet!
YOU EVS CREW, Y’ALL ARE THE BEST!!!! And there’s no way in hell it takes 20 minutes to have a room thoroughly disinfected/Sanitized
My dad was a housekeeping aide at VA and he loved it when he was assigned to clean surgical rooms. He said it wasn’t as boring as cleaning patient rooms and being busy made the time pass by faster. Y’all must have wills and stomachs of steel. Hats off to y’all doing the dirty work 🙇♀️
Thank you for your work ❤️
We owe you so much. Thank you!
As a pharmacist I let out a loud sigh every time I see "prior authorization required." I sigh a lot
I so appreciate pharmacists. Hubby got a new job so we got new insurance. I’ve spent the last 15 years honing in on the appropriate medicine just to have to start over. Migraines and heartburn were hell for the first 9 months here. 🤬 health insurance. Thank god to the docs and pharmacist that fought for me.
what does prior authorization required mean??
@@mirrrstery Prior Authorization = "We're more than likely capable of filling your prescription right this minute, but under your current insurance, we're actually not _allowed_ to fill it until the pharmacist calls your _doctor_ so _he_ can call the _insurance company_ so _they_ can take maybe 2 whole days to decide if your medication is _'really'_ necessary (because of course neither your doctor nor your pharmacist could _possibly_ know what they're doing) and then send their response back down the line so some poor pharmacy technician can tell you to your whether it was approved (and you'll have to wait while it's filled) or denied (so the pharmacy can't help you and you'll have to either pay full-price for this prescription or go back to your doctor and get a new prescription for a similar medication that your insurance will hopefully be more willing to pay for)."
@@Anastas1786 IE attempting to practice medicine without a license, lolol
I can only imagine how much pharmacists have to deal with that crap.
As a German, it's absurd how greedy US insurance companies and medicine companies are and how little laws there are to restrict them.
As an American, it’s absurd to us too lol
Yup as an American it’s bs. I took a 6 mile(about 10km) ambulance ride and The bill was $2400😑
Restrict them? The laws are built to ENCOURAGE them!
As a Canadian, I agree
The more the government gets involved the worse it gets. The decline since the ACA in 2014 is horrid.
Surgical tech here. Depending on the case, a 20 minute turnover is usually darn good. Too many surgeons never take into account that turnover begins when the patient leaves the room, not when the surgeon leaves the room.
So, so true. Thank you for sharing this, Jamesina!
OMG YES! And the anesthesiologist must complete handoff with PACU/ICU nurse before they can interview the next patient..
FACTS!
Lol ortho is the worst coming from an anesthesia provider.... smh
YES- you are correct!!! They forget- it may take longer for anesthesia to extubate.
Im a hospital frequent flyer here in Canada. At one of my stays, the same man, Lewis, came every day to clean and tidy my room for me. We would chat and laugh while he worked and i always told him how grateful i was for his help. One day, my surgical team came in while he was making things nice and we were all chatting. I said to Lewis that he and his co-workers were the most important people in the hospital. He looked surprised and asked why? I said because without you guys working so hard to make this place clean, the drs and surgeons cant do their jobs! My surgical team all agreed and i could see Lewis stand a bit taller. He looked so proud and happy! But its the truth! People think the medical folks are the most important but its the support staff that keep a,hospital running so they can save lives.
I love this story - thank you for sharing!! I agree 1,000%! ☺️
I work in the Vet field but the same goes for us. Everyone is just as important in making things run smoothly, from Veterinarians down to front of house staff. If any section in missing then everything grinds to a halt.
Teamwork makes the dream work!
Medical staff are the tip of the spear, but without something sturdy supporting it it's just a bad knife.
@@TheLonelyBrit agreed
I work in pathology (I'm a cytotech) and yes each piece of equipment has a name (with laminated name tags - our service reps know them by their names) and yes I love my microscopes and sometimes dress them in hats for the holidays.
Awesome. When I worked in the lab, equipments had their names too 😊.
As someone who has depression and anxiety I love this and you made my day so thank you 😊
My favorite physical therapist has a skeleton which during the height of COVID-19 wore a mask (very responsible!) and also a hat and shawl in winter when the rooms still had to be aired on a regular basis.
Because plastic skeletons have feelings, too!
@@carolynnettles3767 you are so very kind and I'm grateful to have helped brighten your day. I just released a new one - I hope you like it!
At my part time job, our instruments are named after Star Wars characters with their pictures on them 😂
I'm a nurs in Ireland 🇮🇪. No prior authorisation ever needed here from insurance. And guess what, investigations are never unnecessarily ordered. I'll never complain about our healthcare system again!
Well gosh it's always as though a medical professional should decide what the patient needs instead of an insurance arsehole.
I appreciate it! Not Ireland but the people I’ve heard from England complain about their system because they, god forbid, have to pay taxes is infuriating. They act like we’re so lucky because we can “go to any Doctor”, and claim they can’t. Which might be true for them, but unless we want to pay out of pocket we definitely can’t just see any Doctor. Not to mention they still get free healthcare because of those taxes. What we get? More money spent on the military. Sorry I’m not sympathetic.
It really is remarkable how the US refuses to learn from everything being done so much better in the healthcare systems of all of it's allies in Europe and East Asia. Imagine all of your friends have solved a proof in a higher mathematics class, some slightly differently from others but all with a fairly good solution, but you're still sitting there trying to find a different way to do it, struggling even as all those friends have offered to show you how it's done. That's how the US has been running it's healthcare system with all allies watching in dismay.
@@DeathnoteBB The only English people who dislike the NHS are people who want to privatise it to make a lot of money, like in America.
Most people here are very appreciative of the NHS
Patient in the US here. Take yourself a victory lap and don’t even worry about not complaining. I’ve got ya covered. I’ll bitch me self blue in the face if I thought it’d change anything other than my blood pressure.
I’ve worked in IT for ~20 years. More than 10 of that without health insurance, or functionally without health insurance.
A few years ago I got hired by an amazing company, and a year later lucked into a staph infection because I hate going to the dentist [Cuz I thought it would hurt. Ha! More on that later] Anywho, the resulting open heart surgery and related ICU time, not to mention the 12 weeks on Vancomycin [all the skin sloughed off my feet after they swelled up like pontoons. That’s a thing that really happens] - ended up costing a little shy of US$2,000,000. My piece was little over $300. Literally anywhere else I’ve ever worked in my life, I would just be dead. Period. Full stop. The window between “I don’t feel so good” and “You’re maybe 3 days from Dead” was such that I wouldn’t have even had time to make a GoFundMe before the thousands of dollars a day bills started coming in. Caught in that wide hellscape of ‘Making too much for Medicare /Medicaid’ but ‘Too little to buy meaningful insurance by myself.’
It’s luck as much as anything else I got this job. It infuriates me to think a simple coin flip, random happenstance, decides if I get a thoroughly understood, lifesaving treatment, or my child finds out if an impulse buy life insurance policy covers drivers’ education.
America is different because we don’t let our people die in the streets. Any public hospital in America has to treat you, regardless of ability to pay. That is such hopeful bullshit. They have to stabilize you. They don’t have to administer ongoing chemo to cancer patients, or arrange surgery for those circling the drain, or provide expensive antibiotics if you’re well enough to take them as an outpatient, even briefly. If you don’t have the presence of mind to be wealthy or have a ridiculously generous employer, you don’t die in the streets; you die at home with an order to follow up with your primary care provider as soon as you can afford the co-payment.
Apologies for the rant. This is a subject I’m particularly vocal regarding
I’m a retired 30+ year ER/ICU RN. We would fight over scheduling for the 4th of July worse than any other holiday in the ER. It is the worst, bar none, holiday to work in the ER. Explosives, drinking, heat, water sports - the perfect storm!
The worst! Only healthcare workers understand why we pray for rain, snow, and thunderstorms on major holidays... :)
I think here in Germany it's either carnival ( = excuse to get black out drunk for some people) or, dear heavens, Oktoberfest in Munich. The pubs are making money hand over fist while the various emergency services (DRK = German Red Cross and others) are calling in every volunteer they've got.
People choking on hotdogs…
As a medical worker my favorite thing to do on 4th of July is get wasted go water-skiing and shoot guns and fireworks. Sorry not sorry
Not to mention new interns…
The part about getting authorization for an MRI is so right on. People like to say about universal healthcare that they don’t want the government coming between them snd their doctor. Yet, the greedy insurance companies come between us and our doctors all the time.
So messed up and so true
You do realize that Canadians come to the United States for procedures that need to be done immediately and don't mind paying out of pocket for them right? So for all your so called great universal health care you forget to mention that the government has the literal final say on whether you live or die. That 6 weeks of PT in this video? It's a ten month wait for surgery on cancer.
@@mikesixx7655 - I don’t believe you.
@Rants Of A Grumpy Old Lady fortunately reality doesn't require your belief. This has been a thing since the 80s with Canada. The wait times for emergency life saving procedures is ludicrous to thr point that even with their taxes already paying for Healthcare they pay out of pocket to come here. We produce the lions share of medical advancements the globe over. Let's stop pretending this system is so bad
@@mikesixx7655 They don’t - by and large - but US rich often go to Canada, Ireland, and even Mexico to save money. Also in the US the insurance company literally has final say on whether you live or die. Also as someone with family going through surgery for cancer they’ve waited 8 and 10 months for two separate surgeries and were denied a third by insurance. In the US
I had a brain tumor and I was scheduled for surgery at the best hospital in the area when the insurance company called to let me know that there was another hospital in the area that would do it for less money. We declined. Not going to go for the cheaper option for brain surgery. I had already reached max out of pocket 2 days before being diagnosed with the brain tumor because I had my baby. I’m sure the insurance company hated me.
I hope you are well recovered now.
@@susanferretti5781, Thank you. I’ve been in remission for 5 years and I’m back to teaching piano lessons and my kids keep me busy. The doctors told me that my son saved my life because swelling from the pregnancy be caused me to have seizures. About 12 hours after he was born, I had a seizure in the hospital. The neurologist who wasn’t supposed to be there that day ordered a MRI and I was diagnosed with brain cancer shortly after that. The tumor had been there slowly growing for more than 5 years, but up until that point, my only symptoms had been headaches.
@@penguinZ85 wow that's an amazing story
Team Brain Surgery in the house (comments section)! Craniotomy or Endo?
Glad you're doing well!
@@ElizabogadaCraniotomy, I’ve had 2 now. I’m doing pretty well now. It’s been over 5 years. The tumor was along the motor strip and I have transient weakness on the left side. I was paralyzed on the left side for 2 weeks after surgery, but I go jogging a few times a week now. I still trip from time to time because of that left leg, but I’m getting more physical therapy to help with that. How are you?
As an RN in the operating room… 20 minutes means we REALLY like you. So , it’s not really attainable for most surgeons 😂
I will never forget the ebullient surgeon who came to report on my daughter's appendectomy, "That was 19 minutes and 40 seconds; I am awesome!". She was in very good shape and came home the next day.
I am a radiologist and I really do appreciate that this trauma surgeon understands the role and importance of clinical history when we interpret the images and I can assure you that he probably has excellent relations with radiologists. Granted, 99.9 percent of cases sent from ED will just say autopopulated indication such as ‘trauma’ so we just end up looking at the patient’s chart.
So kind of you - thank you !!
I am so glad to live in Canada. I told my family doctor that I was experiencing chest pain. Within 3 months I had a stress test, cardiac Catheterization, echocardiogram, appointments with a cardiologist and cardiac surgeon and a double bypass. I spent three and a half days in the intensive care unit, 2 and a half days on the nursing floor. Now receiving cardiac rehabilitation in person with a physiotherapist and nurse. My only expense has been parking fees. Our medical care isn’t “free”…we pay a premium based on income at tax time and through our provincial and federal taxes. I wouldn’t want it any other way. I want all my fellow citizens to be cared for in the same way.
3 months is a really long time
Got news for ya. You show up at my hospital with chest pain, and its real, you'll have all of that the same day, if not the next. Just sayin'.
@@lorriefinley3129 have you tried scheduling with a specialist in the US? 3 months is great for a lot of specialties.
Now that number is dependent on where you are and which specialty you're going for, but 3 to 6 months before you can get into see a specialist is not unusual. And we have the added benefit of not knowing if our insurance covers it until after our appointment.
@Not-Homesick NG I was referring to Cardiac symptoms. For other conditions, I will wait 3-6 months. But not for something that I could stroke out from. (RN here)
@@lorriefinley3129 I mean this was diagnose and appointment with specialists and surgery within 3 months, i would say thats pretty good.
The insurance approval process is a nightmare. My son was catatonic and close to death and the doctor for the insurance company denied further hospital coverage before a full diagnosis was even figured out. That doctor had the nerve to say, “Maybe this is as good as this kid gets.” The only way we got through this mess was because our state has a fund to take care of situations like this...because it’s such a huge issue that insurance companies just won’t budge when it comes to coverage for rare diseases they don’t fully understand. Thankfully, he got diagnosed and treated (for a lifelong, progressive rare disease) despite zero further help from insurance.
Insurance doctors REALLY need upgrades so they’re more on top of things. Smh.
@@SugarandSarcasm better yet, the person at insurance companies needs to be an MD. with all of the certifications required to be an MD. At most insurance companies it's someone who's never even looked at a medical text book making the decision to keep you alive or kill you. Frankly I don't want some kid who knows nothing about medical practices overriding my doctor because the procedure is more expensive than my life insurance payout.
I think that's one of the things that makes me so mad about all those stupid, stupid conspiracy theories about Brandon's Laptop or Hillary's Emails or the flat earth or whatever:
People are wasting their time and energy to make a big show about that nonsense, instead of protesting about all the insane BS that insurances do every darn day.
@@thomasschulz2167 Better yet, ban prior authorisations and let the doctors decide what treatment or tests patient needs.
@@thomasschulz2167 Insurance company medical directors are MDs but they know who signs their paychecks. They will not be your friend in this situation.
Oh my gosh, I had really bad eczema during this last year and I was unable to do the things that would help more because insurance wouldn't cover the treatment that my dermatologist knew was required from the get go. Multiple months later and I finally have the medication I needed AND IT'S WORKING. I mean, think about how much money insurance would have saved if they had just listened to the prescribing health professional from the get go.
Fax. Idk how these companies don't hire drs or nps to consult. You'd save so much in the long term
@@seeker296 The thing is there’s probably backdoor deals going on that in the end make them more. No idea what, but if it truly made them more money they’d do it
You wanna know what's worse, and happened to my uncle? When they insist they won't cover a treatment until you've done a full trial of one you only did a partial trial of before stopping... because you discovered you were deathly allergic to the meds used (hives, fever, anaphylaxis, and syncope. Would've died if he lived alone bc he fainted before he could call 911 or use his epipen, he fainted with the latter in his hand. His wife heard him fall and rushed in, saw him holding an uncapped epipen and used it on him before calling 911)
And they won't listen to that explanation and accept that it means the treatment failed you, therefore, you still aren't approved for the treatment with a 98% success rate in treating your condition with only a 0.06% rate of complications (defined here as problems serious enough to make one stop the treatment early, or problems lasting significantly beyond the duration of the treatment). And for the record, the treatment they wanted first was one that had a 32% success rate and a 4% chance of complications.
4% of people with that issue and insurance company aren't ever going to be approved for the good treatment because they, like my uncle, can't handle the bad one. He ended up paying for it 100% out of pocket.
And then there's the inverse problem, for MY condition, my insurance company was like "I see you've applied for IVIG, which has a 85% success rate. We can't approve that, you'll have to get plasmapheresis instead, as that has a 90% success rate". Plasmapheresis is always (fine, only about 99% of the time) followed by IVIG, takes significantly longer and is more painful, has more risks, and the out of pocket portion was almost as expensive as the IVIG would've been on its own if we paid for it ourselves (well, it was about 70% the cost, and so we ended up paying for IVIG instead).
@@CaTastrophy427 I have no idea what the medical treatment in question was, but when my family encountered a situation like that, we just let insurance pay for the meds (it was fully paid for) for the trial length but no one took the meds. Doctor then reported it didn't work so family member could move on to the next stage of treatment. It was a waste of medication and everyone's time, but it got around insurance's stupid rules.
Hi! I know this is completely personal and if you're uncomfortable I understand but would you mind sharing what medication *did* work for you? I'm newly diagnosed with eczema on my hands and it hurts. Well, the eczema itches but the skin cracking and splitting *hurts* so bad at times. And right now I get like a day, maybe two, before the cycle just repeats. I've got creams galore and they don't seem to work long term ☹ thanks in advance!
I love the immediate head shake at hearing "prior authorization" 🤣
He knew exactly what was coming 🤣
It's so infuriating
Gosh the pathology one seems so true to me. As a med student when my dad told other doctors his planned specialty, psychiatry, most of them sort of scoffed at it (this was in the early 90s before psychiatry was as well accepted as a medical field), but the pathologists were very supportive.
Absolutely. I am a patient, not a Dr, and my psychiatric Dr LITTERALLY saved my life. I have been going to him for 20+ years and he diagnosed my bipolar illness, patiently trying to find the best medications for ME. I have never ever felt just like a "patient", he sees me as a person. He knows my family situation etc. Psychiatry is very underestimated, people should realise that they actually is treating life threatening illnessess too. (I got diagnosed in 1997)
I'm an x-ray tech, can't tell you how many times patients get upset with me that they aren't getting an MRI straightaway. 1) I did not order your x-rays. 2) I did not create our BS healthcare/insurance situation. But by all means, keep voting for the jokers who do!
Ah yes, votes. That thing that definitely directly changes insurance policies
Sorry Babe.
Yeah getting mad at the radiologist is kinda rude and pointless considering it isn't them ordering it or denying coverage. I just get annoyed when either insurance or doctors insists they do a CTA/CTV/Fluoroscopy instead of MRA/MRV when my singular life threatening allergy is iodonated contrast 🤦 literally every time I have to have the same conversation even though it's very clear in my records lol
@@ZebraGirl97 oh man sorry you have to deal with that!
@@DeathnoteBB
Well, yes. Around here we have a mandatory coverage package set by the government that you must offer, and you can't actually deny anyone who applies.
You don't want that? Then you're not allowed to be an insurance company, simple.
This means there's a level playing field and competition is actually based on quality and prices. We even have an insurer who advertises that they make no profit. Sometimes they operate at a small loss and cover it from investments they made elsewhere.
In other words, the regulations make sure there's no conflict between the healthcare motive and the profit motive. This is great, because as long as that's the case, the awesome power of capitalism is providing excellent healthcare.
Things go wrong when the profit motive is against the healthcare motive.
No BS like in the US where coverage is arbitrary and you can be denied from insurance if you cost too much.
"... when the general public decides to dabble in explosives" Outstanding.
sad but true 😂
That is so true about prior auths! I had an insurance company ask why a patient needed a repeat c-section and what went wrong with the last one. I had to explain that it was a new and different pregnancy. That took a lengthy explanation. It is sad just how accurate it is. Insurance companies are for profit and it is their job to deny care. Insurance companies also decide how much you will pay for your care. Not the hospital, not the doctor, the insurance company decides what you will pay.
They're also the reason you pay 2000 instead of 150,000 soooooo y'know. Hospitals hands are just as dirty when it comes the the money dept. Insurance companies honestly have to negotiate complete bullshit prices hospitals push out CONSTANTLY.
@@troubledcourier8795 hospitals have to push out higher prices just to get reasonable compensation. Before insurance companies took over healthcare in the 80's and 90's, hospital costs were pretty reasonable. People could even pay for care using things like bushels of vegetables or a cow. That changed rapidly when insurance became the norm. The same groups of people who own insurance companies also own the hospital groups. They are making money hand over fist. If a company makes 20 billion profit in a year and the next year makes 19 billion in profit, they get to write off that 1 billion difference as a loss on taxes. You can't do the same thing.
@@MiracleFound yeah, that would only make sense if the majority of hospital visits weren’t from patients on government provided insurance such as Medicare and Medicaid. They DO set the compensation so low that hospitals have to overcharge to get adequate compensation and by law can’t refuse to treat people with Medicaid or Medicare without losing many other government benefits. By the time insurance companies come along to fleece patients they’re already dealing with a corrupt system accustom to overcharging. Then insurance and the hospital lobby for government support allowing them to just charge more. All you have to do to fix this is force hospitals to have transparent prices for procedures and let the market drive hospitals to compete for patients by lowering prices or providing better care.
@@Billsbob there was transparent pricing before the insurance companies took over healthcare and jacked all the prices up. I have worked in hospitals since 1977 and watched this happen. The government pays minimum reimbursement, especially Medicaid. It is the insurance companies who run healthcare now. Did you know that United Healthcare, Express Scripts, Metropolitan Life, American Family and a host of other companies are all owned by the same group of people under a variety of company names? Some of them are also part of Blue Cross Blue Shield, Humana, and other smaller companies? Centene, who makes huge profits off of Medicaid, also shares some owners. This same group also own 3 major hospital chains. When all this went down, healthcare in this country became expensive and inefficient. This is why we are rivaling 3rd world countries for poor healthcare outcomes. Cuba and Mexico have better healthcare than we do.
@@troubledcourier8795 it's the opposite. They're the reason for ridiculous prices in the first place. If the hospital charged a reasonable price, the insurance company would negotiate it down further. The hospitals have to negotiate with the insurance company to be paid a reasonable amount, which is what drives up the cost for uninsured people.
Universal healthcare would cut out most of the negotiating and bullshit
My first job was as a phlebotomist in a small hospital. I will never understand why no one wants to hang out with the lab (bias disclaimer: both parents are lab techs). It’s just us and the Path people hanging out doing most of the quantitative science hidden away from the nursing v doctor drama. Very peaceful, very quiet. About the only part of the lab that has drama is blood bank.
You are right. When I worked in the clinical lab at a small hospital (MLT at the time), my coworkers and I would get called vampires by the nursing staff. On the rare occasions one of them would have to stop by to drop something off, often they seemed a bit spooked by the environment. I never understood why. It's the best part of the hospital.
How young were you? I've been considering working in phlebotomy as a job while in college.
@@pocketluna3607 I was 18.
As someone who is extremely introverted, that sounds lovely. If I end up changing career path, I know where I'll be hiding from the public next!
I am a blood banker at a level 1 trauma hospital. It is absolutely insane I send out hundreds of products per day. One patient has taken 500 products before
I think Dr Glaucomflecken is hilarious even though I'm not a doctor/ nurse. I do especially love his take on specialists. Its interesting to see your reaction to his comedy gold.
I'm so glad you like it - thank you! Just released a new one. I hope you like it!
As a student at Temple, I too spent a few minutes on the helipad with Dr. Goldberg and team July 4, 2010. Once you said portable grill, I knew you must’ve spent some time at TUH. Thank you for the happy recollection, Doc! 🦉
Man this gives me such intense nostalgia! I know a few people who shared that helipad with you in 2010 - small small world!!
As someone who works as OR staff changing over rooms, etc, I appreciate the recognition ❤️
Before becoming an claims examiner I was a prior authorization coordinator for a IPA in Los Angeles. That is so fucking true. One time there was a patient who was playing tennis and he planted his foot and felt his knee pop. The Ortho said it was most likely a ACL tear and needed to get a MRI to confirm. I shit you not, they denied it and requested the patient do 3-4 weeks of inflammatory medicine first. The doctor resubmitted it a week later, yes a week later and said he completed the regiment . They denied it again and said he needed to got to PT, fucking PT when he can move his leg. Finally he got approved after he filed a complaint. I've seen so many fucked up things happen, including people getting written up for sending too many approval request. Yes they will send you to another facility to get a MRI done that's super far. If you know the Los Angeles area, one time we send a patient in North Hollywood to Oxnard to get a MRI done.
had a patient come in to pick up their biologic meds for a severe autoimmune disorder. their new insurance only wanted to cover first line medications (steroids). totally inappropriate medication therapy.
Why do you work for Satan?
People think universal health care is too expensive? It’s a million times cheaper than paying the insurance profiteers!!!!
What the hell? Thats just absolutely appalling, what the hell are you paying for?
@@cmxsprt yes it is cheaper to just have universal healthcare. All it takes is one hospital trip to completely dwarf your tax burden for a universal healthcare system.
It was a while before I saw the pathologist for the first time in his videos. I'd been waiting. My aunt, who I lived with growing up, is a hematopathologist. The moment I saw Dr. G's pathologist, I knew. He was exactly her, minus the attachment to Tabitha (the microscope). My aunt bought a condo for me to live in during college, paid for my senior year tuition once my scholarships ran out, paid for my grad school apartment (and IIRC my grad school itself), gave me a car, and just spent a bunch of money renovating one of her rental properties so my husband, son, and I could live in it rent-free while we save up the money to buy our own place. She also paid for the procedure and storage fees for me to have eggs frozen when there were fertility concerns for me, and paid for my dental care growing up.
Beyond her financial generosity, she is just one of the nicest, most likeable people ever. My ex-boyfriend (also an ex at the time) came to stay with us for a few days while he was visiting someone in town, and he was like, "Your aunt is so bubbly." No one could so much as dislike her. Best person ever.
I don't think she even really saw the similarity between herself and Dr. G's pathologist in terms of personality 😂
A blessing.
I'm a medical biologist so don't (or hardly) work with patients but purely in the lab. One time I was at the microscope and one of the PhD's came in, said "If you start talking to your cells, it's time for a holiday".
I reacted to that statement much like our dear pathologist here xD
Love this story 🤓
😂 I'm a pathologist, and even thought I've never named a microscope, I do love a chat with my slides
My Granddad started a biomedical repair business many many years ago. As a child, I used to go with my dad for PMs (periodic maintenance) on all sorts of lab equipment...tissue processors, microtomes, microscopes, cryostats...all of it. By the time I was 14, I could service them all. I promise...it's not useless information 😅
Sounds very interesting. You must be very clever.
I’m a RN, this just kills me! Explains a lot of Dr behaviors. Keep it coming.
One of the ORs I worked at was in a teaching hospital. After a particularly MESSY surgery, the Ortho surgeon and his attending threw down mops to help us turn over. I will never forget that. I've always felt the surgeon can complain and slow us down, help and get the room done faster (particularly when there's blood and water EVERYWHERE), or just go away and come back when the next patient is in the room. Amazing how many chose option 1, but the option 2 folks are made of gold.
My name is Mark Elliott. I have 32 years in military medicine. I was a Navy Corpsman for 22 years ( 6 years 7 months active and the rest Reserves as an FMF corpsman) and a National Guard Health Specialist for 10 years. I just got to see you, I like you and your reactions to the Dr. Glaucomflecken video ( who I like to lol at also, because of his kernels of truth in them). I look forward to see your more serious videos. Thank you.
Hi Mark, thanks very much for your kind words - and most importantly, thank YOU for your service.
Mad respect. No experience like military medicine experience. Are they letting you guys move into civilian medicine if you choose to yet? I was floored when I first heard it doesn't always transfer. Crazy.
@dejuren because he is proud of his service and we are as well. Celebrating someone's service is nice. Nice to be nice because too many are negative nellys who try to take the wind of others sails.
Lmao I would trust my life with Texaco Mike. He's a lifesaver.
The one about insurance had me both laughing and crying. I've had chronic respiratory infections for almost a decade -- starting in middle school. I get sick for about a week every 2 1/2 months. I've been tested for cystic fibrosis and primary ciliary diskinesia, I've had 3 sinus surgeries, and I see an ENT, 2 pulmonologists, and an immunologist. Trying to deal with insurance so that I can see all my doctors when I need to see them has been so frustrating for me and my mom. At the same time, I'm really glad we have insurance because otherwise I wouldn't be able to see my doctors and my parents wouldn't have been able to pay for my surgeries. Then again, it's also extremely frustrating because my doctors still don't know why I get sick. And I have similar problems with chronic pain. Medical care in America has *soooo* much room for improvement.
Any chance you have ME/CFS? Consider looking at the full description on Emerge Australia because there are a cluster of symptoms. I get respiratory infections all the time but also have the heart, gastrointestinal, fatigue, brain fog and other issues. I don’t have too much issue with severe chronic pain but a lot of ME/CFS sufferers do.
Has it resolved cus sub clinical true food allergies can cause that. I suggest a good symptom journal, look for wet ears, swollen belly, not just actually sickness. This has been known in non human animals for ages, but only recently did it become clear it also happens in humans. Best of luck.
Oh and dairy and alpha gal allergies are the 2 most common that cause this with both also causing joint pain in some cases.
Check out the Weimar Institute or eden Valley lifestyle center. They can help you!
Best wishes for you 💛
Doc, idk how you do not get discouraged with the insurance red tape that you have to go through but I am loving your reaction vids! Keep up the good work! P.s. love the analog clock behind you!
Thank you so much!!
Insurance companies are evil! They prey on the vulnerable and take advantage of people in their darkest times. My dad had 2 small strokes a little over 10 years ago. We noticed some changes in him after that. We said something to his GP and he ordered a cognitive test. He passed it but barely. So the insurance company made my parents pay out of pocket for the "unnecessary" test. Turns out he was probably showing early signs of Alzheimers. He was also later diagnosed with vascular dementia and since it we noticed changes after small strokes that was 100% an early sign. We had to wait until his cognitive abilities got really bad before they were willing to approve any more cognitive testing. Thankfully when he got a new GP after another stroke, the new one was much better at helping us fight the insurance company.
It’s funny how the camaraderie working over holidays are universal. I work at a grocery store, we typically have snacks in the break room over holidays, normally finished but cancelled orders corporate lets us eat instead of damaging out.
As a Sterile Processing tech, I appreciate you so much for this video!! Thank you! It always feels like no one recognizes what we do since we have our own space out of direct sight of the OR.
I’m so glad! I 1,000% appreciate YOU - without you and your team, we wouldn’t be able to do anything
It is so true about Pathology and their microscopes. I am a pathology tech and pathologist are attached to their scopes. I had a resident once turn in his scope at the end of schooling and he cried and wanted his scope back.
❤ true, I didn't name mine but when I went back as an attending, I asked for my residence 🔬.
The prior authorizations is an extremely accurate and painful reminder of what I went through trying to get my father help when he lost the ability to swallow. He died a few days ago because of all the shit the insurance company caused us just trying to save his life. 😭🤬☠
I wonder if you've seen the Dr. G origin story video for trauma surgery, where a general surgeon was caught charting in the emergency department and was cornered and converted by the doctors there.
I'm also curious what your thoughts would be on breaking down how certain cases are surgically managed from the start. For example, a known "high profile" case would be when rapper 50 cent was shot nine times. He was shot in the chest, arm, hand, legs, hip, and face if I recall correctly. How would that type of scenario be managed starting from he beginning?
ABC
Airway
Breathing
Circulation…….
His name would likely be changed to John Doe. That's it for differences.
Very happy I’m Canadian. No nonsense with administration getting involved with medical issues. Doctors don’t even worry about getting approvals and I can choose any doctor I want. This whole coverage issue and deductibles is so foreign to me.
Same, expect the long wait to see a specialist (in the province of Quebec at least). I had to wait 7 months to see a dermatologist… by the time I saw them my problem was almost completely gone. Thank God I had pictures from when it was bad.
@@AGirlNamedSomething I don't think the wait times are due to Universal health care. I'm in America, I have top of the line medical insurance and I'm a nurse. I had to wait 4 months to see a dermatologist! It's that less people are becoming doctors. It's brutal on the doctor and their family. The smart people who could have gone to med school are going into careers that don't take 12 years of schooling and residency. Only to start working at 30 years old and have half a million dollar school loan to pay off! As the population continues to grow and less doctors graduate it's harder to get an appt in a timely manner.
@@MParentWetmore yup, Here in the UK the main issue for hospitals is overcrowding and short staffing, along with (at least for NHS England) chronic issues with admin leading to significant waste in a system where really as much of the money as possible should be going into treatments. At my old local hospital the A&E had wait times of ~2-4 hours pre pandemic, but for sure after those waits the treatment of injuries was exemplary. Where I live now the wait times in the A&E is shorter (sub 1 hour) but once again, doctors do an amazingly good job despite the constant talk of strain on our Health Service due to underfunding and mismanagement for decades.
Well you're giving Canada too much credit. We still deal with insurance companies for most prescriptions, optical care, and dental care outside of emergencies.
@@MParentWetmore Amen. My wife and I are both physicians. My daughter is a very bright highschooler (think straight A's from birth, and enough AP credits to start college as a junior). Neither of us suggest she consider medicine.
When I first saw his tik toks on the insurance, I was hoping it was been greatly exaggerated, but to have confirmation that's its basically spot on just sickens me. This would explain alot of stuff from growing up.
I honestly do not get the brain MRI approval thing. American health care system is the most ridiculous thing. I just had a diagnostic angiogram and echo. Granted it's not MRI but it got approved immediately and it took a week from booking to actually having it done...and I didn't pay for anything. I live in Australia. It's sad this entire "for profit" situation.
*EDIT: That's not even me touching my private insurance.
because insurance companies make money by denying you coverage. The more they can deny, the more money they make, so they are actively incentivized to deny you as much as possible.
This is why private insurance is so stupid and is basically a scam. They will do everything within their power to deny you the one service you are paying them for.
@@eragon78 luckily private health insurers in Australia aren’t that cruel helped by the fact that there’s more regulation of them. I can’t tell you how many CT scans, MRIs, x-rays, ECGs, ultrasounds, pathology etc I’ve had in the past two years and how few I’ve paid anything out of pocket. The public health system and my private health insurance have fully covered virtually everything. I had a mammogram and breast ultrasound yesterday and had to pay half because insurance only covered 50%. My payment was $280 total. My private health insurance is just over $3k per year. Neither of those amounts are insignificant to a low income worker but compared to what you fork out in the USA it’s a drop in the ocean. Over here we all feel so sorry for you all. Terrible how your government treats you and how much they abdicate their responsibilities in favour of unfettered capitalism.
I used to do customer service for a PBM and the prior auth thing is 100% true! Most of the time there's nothing the person you first speak to over the phone can do to change it, people end up getting transferred all over the place to finally get any help/further info. It's part of the reason I quit, you feel so powerless.
I’m a medical technology student and currently attending the lab working on my Histopathology and Cytogenetics Technology course. The mention of a microtome is not useless to me Doc! We have a rotary microtome in our lab and our preceptors honor it so much, like an extension of themselves.
I can’t stop laughing hearing your responses and giggles. I was an X-Ray TECHNOLOGIST (not technician 😉) for 27 years. This video brings back a lot of good and bad memories. Shall I tell you about an Ortho surgeon and a scalpel???
Yes please.
@@phoebegilliland8897 Well, it was in the early 90s, night shift, trauma straight to the OR. Something/Someone pissed off the Ortho Surgeon = scalpel flying through the air and hits the wall next to me. Silence fills the room. Ortho surgeon continues on as if nothing happened. 🤦♀️
You just popped in my algorithm, I love it ! I'm also dying over some of these as someone who has had 10 surgeries and was told I tried to get up mid surgery more than once. 🤣
Oooh, as an IBD patient talking about failing meds just triggered so many flashbacks. Five or six different meds before one that worked. And they made me fail regular Budesonide before giving Budesonide ER (Uceris). I had pancolitis. I need all the extended release I can get.
And made me fail mesalamine first. I was not a mild case. Mesalamine did nothing! Like throwing ping pong balls at a tiger. Useless, didn't even stop me from getting worse.
I was amused by the clock demonstrating that you're living in non-linear time. Is that normal for all surgeons?
Could you use that to bypass changeover time?
I have a severe tear my right shoulder’s supraspinatus tendon; I was sent for an x-ray first. Seriously? For a soft tissue injury? Of course nothing was found, except a bone spur. I had to to do 12 rounds of PT before I got my MRI. Ortho says, “Oh, yeah. You definitely need surgery before it gets worse and harder to repair.” I wouldn’t doubt it became a severe tear because I had to do PT first. 🤦🏻♀️
ETA: the tear didn’t come from anything “cool,” like falling or because I was deadlifting 250 pounds. Oh, no, I had to do it when I was…holding the covers up behind me in bed to let my chihuahuas get underneath. 🤦🏻♀️ One second I’m lifting and the next I have searing shoulder pain.
Hey, don't feel bad. During the winter I break out the down comforter, duvets, matching shams, and handmade crochet coverlet and let me tell you it weighs a *ton*
Powers1217, I can relate, I have a chihuahua/jack russel and both my shoulder are shot to hell. So yes pain when letting my Sadie under the covers. Pain sleeping. I do water aerobics to avoid the surgery. Sometimes I get steroid shots. Hope your shoulder gets better!!
I love how you automatically knew who/what Tabitha was with no other context...
Seconding that every time I've brought over an intraoperative specimen from the OR its really great. Pathologists were always super excited to show us stuff and go over the slides on the scope.
My cousin was first in his class in college (full ride) and first in his class at Hopkins (full ride). He became a pathologist. The man who graduated first in my class (highest score in the USA on the National Boards) also became a pathologist. Number 2 is a neurosurgeon. The simple fact is that pathologists know everything...or just about everything. All physicians and surgeons should take maximum benefit from that. Yup, nice people, too.
I love how you called that Tabitha was a microscope 😂
As a nurse in a large hospital I visited the Pathology Department & the Pathologist was very nice too 🇦🇺
Glad to hear it's true in your hospital too, Denise! PS - just posted a new one. Let me know what you think!
I love this video!!! I have myasthenia Gravis thought that decided to bring a big ole tumor with it for the party! I went through so many tests and then retested to prove that I didn’t have a stroke. So instead of trying to find out what was wrong with me, they kept trying to prove what wasn’t wrong with me. It’s so sad how true this video is! Much love from Oklahoma! 💗💗💗
You hit the nail right on the head, they do focus on trying to prove what isn't wrong with you. I once had a doctor tell me that they "weren't going to look for something wrong". Um, I'm at the doctor because I think something is wrong? It's terrible how they focus on proving patients wrong instead of lending them some trust initially.
This video shows me (once again) how grateful 🙏 I can be for the health system in Austria. If I'm sick or injured, I don't have to worry about being able to pay for it.
I greatly appreciate you explaining what the equipment was! I have no medical background whatsoever, but I love dr. G. This comes with the price of sometimes not knowing details like this and not even knowing how to google them. I love finally having closure on that part.
I'm so glad you liked it! I just released a new one - let me know if you watch!
I believe it about these insurance companies where they deny patient to receive any treatment since I work in med surg unit. Sometimes, my patients would have to wait up to couple months since rehab facilities the patients want to go to get denied. So the patients just stay there until the case manager can find the facilities would accept the insurances.
Ugh. So so frustrating
I've only seen two of Dr. Hindin's "reviews," but he seems like a very measured, witty, and respectful human and surgeon. I'm guessing his colleagues really enjoy working with him and learning from his expertise.
the holiday one is so true, im a vet nurse and last year i was assisting a pericardial effusion during new years, it was just me and my emergency vet, 12am, fireworks start going off and we were there, saving a dogs life. Was insane but also pretty great, dog came in with a 10% chance of survival and walked out of the clinic
that’s amazing!
I'm very grateful for medical staff that work holidays. Obviously I try to avoid visiting the hospital on holidays - on any day, but especially holidays. But I have a genetic disease and a lot of comorbid chronic illnesses, and twice in the last few years I've ended up in ER on a holiday and so appreciate how kind the staff were. I felt even worse once because it wasn't a true "emergency" or life or death - my tunneled CVC occluded - but no one but the ER can help with central lines, urgent care won't get within 20 feet of a central line, and I get IV meds every 2 hours. I kept apologizing for being there on Thanksgiving, but every nurse and physician and person I interacted with was so supportive and they made me feel so much better about needing help. Thank you to all hospital staff and healthcare workers, and especially those who show up to care for people in need even when they definitely deserve the holiday
I get what you’re saying for sure. I’ve spent a 4th of July and a Christmas in the hospital. Thank goodness they don’t keep “bankers’ hours.” 😊
I wish I had seen these before starting college, pathology sounds perfect for me.
I was in hospital because I couldn’t speak and dr Glaucomflecken was just another dr in the hospital. But he was a hero in the hospital and most people knew him . I certainly did. He made my day . This happened in Ottawa Canada and he was my hero and the staff was so impressed too. Please tell Dr Glaucomflecken he was the best part of a terrified patient's day
The exact situation you described for IBD treatment failing less effective medications first happened to me. I ended up with an ostomy because the biologics I got many years later didn't have a chance to work.
Oh that is wrong on so many levels!
i had this experience with a patient. no matter how much the physician and I advocated for the patient, the insurance refused to cover biologics and would only cover first line medications (steroids). unless someone is stupid rich, no one can afford to pay out of pocket for them. i don’t know how it ended, but i do know that they were without appropriate meds for a at least a month or so.
im so sorry this happened to you. it pisses us off too. we want patients to get the right therapy just as much as they do.
I’m so sorry that happened to you. I have Crohn’s disease and pray I never have to have an ostomy. I already had all but 13 inches of my large intestine taken out in 2001. 🤞 hope I never have surgery for it again. Now if I could stop having to have orthopedic and spine surgeries I’d have it made. Best of luck to you!
Happened to a close loved one of mine with a different digestive disorder that took a long time and multiple specialists to diagnose. "Try this medication first, the one that acts on a different part of the digestive system and so doesn't work for your specific version of the disorder."
Weeks later, follow up visits, more calls from specialist: "okay here's the medication your doctor recommends."
And it works to this day! The doc orders several months worth at once in order to make sure my loved one never runs out. 💓
Finally decided to watch this, as YT has recommended it for a little while now. Definitely not disappointed; new subscriber day!
These videos are great. Keep them coming!
Thank you!!! ☺️☺️
I remember when Dr. G first came to youtube. Everyone knew his success on other platforms would give him a big boost but he just grew so fast across the board. There's humor and just gems of knowledge for medical hopefuls and participants that his success was all but guaranteed.
Im a surgical technologist and I would honestly love to work for either of you. You understand our struggles 😂
You are so kind, Jenna - thank you!!
Just watched this. Hilarious and informative. Thank you!!
Very true. Insurance required an x-ray of my leg before they'd allow an MRI to evaluate a tendon issue I was having.
The doctors here along the Gulf Coast would likely add Mardi Gras, Spring Break, and various local "Fests" to your roster of busy ER visit holidays.
This serie is so great! Luv your content and commentary
Amazing insight in US healthcare. My jaw is hanging on the floor.
Your comments on pathologists crack me up! I used to work in a picture frame shop and we had a pathologist come in one day to frame some wedding photos he was giving to friends as a gift. I complimented the skill of the photographer, and it turns out he had taken them himself. He then went on to say it was VERY different to photograph people when they were up and moving around! Extremely nice guy, though, so the stereotype fit him at least!
My boss is an embalmer and her son had to wear a tie to school once. She had to have him lie on the floor 😂
This was the first video i saw from you. Very informative! About to start residency in 2 months! Can't wait!
That's so neat - congrats on getting started!
Had a summer job in logistics at our local hospital. It was an interesting job, but I realized that it's not something a lot of people think about when it comes to hospitals.
Someone needs to bring the food, medicine, fluids, take out the trash (including biohazardous materials, and the occasional limb/organ), pick up laundry, etc.
There's a lot that goes in to keeping a hospital running, and a lot of it is completely missed by most people.
Note: I never thought about how much trash a hospital produces every day, but it's a whole lot.
this did remind me of my time working IT at a hospital. Any call I got from a dr was an atrocity of the highest order, some of the most abuse i've ever received in all my time in IT. Nurses or pharmacists? absolutely wonderful. Was such a consistent trend that I asked one of the pharmacists what was up and they just said "yeah most of the dr are like that, you get used to it".
Hah! I went back to school to become a histotech. I got all excited when you mentioned microtomes, especially because most people generally have never heard of histology (myself included, shortly before deciding to pursue it haha) so it was cool to hear you talk about it!
That's great - I'm so glad. And your art is awesome, Alexandra!
@@DavidHindin Thanks so much!
I have seen a few of Dr. Glaucomflecken's videos in the past. I did find them funny, although I am not a doctor or nurse so there were a few words/terms, that I did not understand. I am happy I found your channel and you were able to put the videos into laymens terms, and explain if what he was making fun of was true.
Also, I have IBD, I have had it for 17 years now, and what you said about biologics vs. other cheaper treatments is absolutely spot on. Biologics have been the only thing to put me into remission, and I had to "fail" all the other stuff first, I was really sick off and on for a few years, as before I was allowed to touch the biologics, steroids were the only thing to give me some sort of reprieve.
Re prior-auths, I HATE when it's approved.. the procedure is done.. and then a week later "oh, yeah, we re-reviewed that and had to revoke the prior auth"... grrr.
He is a genius and always tries best to please Professionals and the general population!! Tries to deliver humor as maximum as possible!!
OMG! Those were so funny. And your useless information could be helpful for some, not useless (I already knew, but many others might not). Thanks for sharing and reminding me of the fun world of the hospital.
Thank you so much!! Just shared a new one - lmk if you watch it!
Pathetic that insurance companies over rule and control medical personnel.
My mother dying from cancer purchased a wig as she lost all her hair
They denied stating it was " cosmetic"
I flipped out
They resubmitted as a SCALP prosthetic and got it approved
I am in radiology residence, started in 2022 and got friends with a R1 pathologist who also got accepted last year. Sometimes I go to the lab to check if I suspect the correct tumor (because of course clinicians will never said and we don’t access to the pathology reports exception we go by ourself to the lab). Once I went and listened a fellow pathologist shouted to Tony: “your social dosis of the week is coming!”.
I told him why I was a social dosis when he has fellow residents there: we don’t talk.
I was like: 🙃?
I mean I am sunlight deprived 😂 but we still speak and listen music down there.
I just learned now about prior authorizations (I'm European) and I must say, this is more than hilarious. The system was very clearly built not only to maximise profit, but also somehow minimize the patient's health??
Whereas over here, the doctor tells you you need X medication, you just drive to the nearest pharmacy and they just... give you it. And in the end you spent more on gas than on the appointment and medication cost combined!
How the US still manages to be a working country has been beyond me for a while, but this is on a whole other level!
It is not a working country, i promise 😂 I live here
Yep if the patient dies then they no longer cost the insurance company any money 🤷♂️
@@ensanesane yep and then the funeral industry gets to make money off of your family. Clearly America is the "Greatest" country on earth....😑🙃
44 years in laboratory medicine and I have worked for some amazing pathologists!!
Oh, the insurance one!! After living in the US for a few years I appreciate not having private health insurance here in Canada 🙂 The pathology one was so funny!
I guess pathologists in all fields are really nice. I worked with veterinary pathologists. They were all always in a good mood. I used to work in preclinical trials collecting tissues on rats and mice at the end of drug studies. We were the pathologists’ eyes. Also did mircrotoming of tiny mice/rat adrenal glands and all their other tiny organs. Learned a lot about human anatomy from that job, because Mother Nature just keeps using the same stuff, if it works. I got excited when you described what a microtoming machine is.
A colleague of mine once tried to train in pathology but once he got to doing post mortems on babies and children he decided it wasn't for him and became a GP.
I'm old and the old stereotype for pathologists was rumpled smelled like formalin, messy white hair, glasses and grumpy. LOL. Didn't help the pathology dept was under the university hospital down 2 levels in the most ancient part of the building!
@@joywebster2678 Pathology is always stuck in a basement or some other out of the way place where they can keep bodies and no one will notice.
Histologist here. (Spent years working on a microtome). Some pathologists really are wonderful, but as a whole they are kind of a mixed bag. Really brilliant doctors who don't want to deal with living patients do great in pathology. Some of them are plain quirky. A few are best avoided.
I have seen your videos many times each....I love the way you react so honestly and your laughing is so contagious....please do more. Regards from Chile 🇨🇱🌷
Andrea, thank you so much for your kind words. You made my day ☺️
P.S. - I just released a new one! Hope you're having a great day in Chile, Andrea!
Just gotta say that, as a Canadian, American medicine looks like an absolute nightmare. Most expensive medical system in the world and is 46th on the list of life expectancy by country. Like the women aren't expected to live past 76.
Brilliant. I've been watching Dr. Glaucomflecken! for ages and it's great to get an insight as to what's going on. He is indeed, a legend. Thanks for these insights.
So glad you liked it! Just released a new one - lmk if you watch it!
30 years in emergency medicine, 10 as a Paramedic, and 20 as an ER RN, and The "clinically coordinate" part is SO TRUE!! 🤣
U should just make a section of videos a watchlist if u will called reaction videos. And please do more . Ur explanations help a lot and I enjoy his videos and ur reactions lol
i spent 6 months dealing with horrific chronic migraines going from shitty medication to shitty medication with near constant pain and nausea until finally being allowed to be on the only that actually helped
This is cool. I've been watching Dr Glaucomflecken's shorts for a while and find them amusing, but as a non-medical and non-american lay person I'm aware I'm probably missing half the jokes, so it's kind of cool knowing the reasons/background behind the jokes.
Huge fan of Dr. Glaucomflecken and sooooooooo glad I'm Canadian ....great reaction video!
Thank you so much!! Just shared a new one - lmk if you watch it!
Yep, when I used to verify for procedures at the doctors office, I work at, the insurance will insist that we try one procedure or medication before they would approve the one the doctor wanted. I remember advising one doctor, “just do this other meditation for one time, and when it fails, I can submit for the meditation you want.”