Here ’s what it looks like when our health system actually works

The other day, rather than being at the office, I was sitting in the waiting room of our favorite gastroenterologist’s endoscopy suite. I had dutifully accompanied my wife, who was getting her colonoscopy. My cell phone buzzed. It was my nurse calling from the office. I had seen a patient late the previous day who was complaining of right leg pain. I had ordered a D-dimer, hoping the test would be negative, ruling out a blood clot. But the test had been positive. The patient was still experiencing pain, and now wanted further instructions. I asked my nurse to order an ultrasound of the patient’s leg, which she was able to do with a quick phone call. The patient was sent right over for the test. About an hour later my cell phone buzzed again. It was radiology calling to let me know that the patient did indeed have a blood clot. They put the patient on the phone, and I informed them of the diagnosis and asked them to come right back to my office on the way home. I met the patient there and started one of our newer anticoagulants, for which we had samples that came in a handy-dandy one-month starter pack, and sent them home. This was just a simple case, but I love how easy it can be to get things done when we have smartphones, smart, motivated staff, a simple ordering process, and new treatments like this anticoagulant. Not too long ago, this patient would have had to go to the ER to start IV heparin, and be admitted to the hospital for days until the warfarin (an older anti...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Physician Cardiology Emergency Medicine Facebook Infectious Disease Source Type: blogs