Healthcare's Dumping Ground?

I couldn't really blame the social worker.  He was just doing his job.  The SNF unit connected to the hospital was full of flailing patients.  So he thought he would ask for a palliative care consult (after getting an okay from the primary team).  It was his third request of the day.  He spoke slowly as he tried to untangle the twisted path the patient had taken. Dr. X was managing poor old failure to thrive before he came to the hospital.  But then Dr. Y, the hospitalist, admitted him and treated the urinary tract infection.  Dr. Z was covering Dr. W on the cardiology side.  And of course Dr. S, the oncologist, was giving chemo before he landed here. My head started to swirl as I waived him away and ambled back to the nursing station.  This was another complex patient with multiple doctors and few answers.  I reviewed the chart and then went to the room and began my exam.  He was an elderly, confused, chronically ill gentleman with labored breathing.  He was unable to communicate effectively.  I left the room and called the daughter.  She hadn't spoken to any of the doctors in awhile.  She was hoping to meet later in the day to talk.  I hung up and paged the nurse practitioner who covered the hospitalist patients in the SNF.  Even a move down the hallway ended in a hand off to yet another provider.  It was just as I expected.  Doctor X didn't com...
Source: In My Humble Opinion - Category: Family Physicians Authors: Source Type: blogs