Yet Again, the VA screws up my healthcare
There are many variations on the theme of Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance. I like this modification though: Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. This adage was demonstrated yet again by the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center. For those who did not see the prior misadventures I suffered there, you can see them here and here. I wound up writing to the Secretary of Veteran Affairs. That letter is here. The VA's response is here.
Now you have the backstory leading up to today. To be fair, I did cancel an appointment for cardioversion in September as I could not get away from the office. I worked with the Cardiology Clinic Case Manager to schedule the procedure for this morning. I was told it would be an outpatient procedure as it was before. No problem. Arranged a ride, since they are more insistent than ever that you cannot drive yourself home after being sedated.
Late yesterday afternoon I got a call from a Cardiology Clinic fellow telling me that I would have to stay in the hospital overnight because I am taking Dofetilide. I asked why that hadn't been communicated to me earlier. He apologized, told me no one on the team had caught it and we'd deal with it in the morning.
Got there right on time. Went through the preparation process (having an IV put in, shaving off the chest hairs where they glue the pads on, etc). Then I was told that because the cardiology clinic hadn't bothered to request a bed in advance, they were unable to do the cardioversion. The head of the clinic came to where I was to apologize and explain what had happened. He said the problem was there were too many patients in the ER for there to be an available bed. I know that isn't the real problem. Had the case manager been informed I would have to stay overnight, a bed would have been reserved for me. In that case, once the procedure was underway I couldn't be "bumped" from the bed that had been set aside.
What do I do now? Allow the VA Cardio clinic another chance to schedule my cardioversion? Navigate the Veteran Choice program and find a cardiologist outside the VA system that the VA will pay for?
I am angry, frustrated, disappointed and sad; all at the same time.
Now you have the backstory leading up to today. To be fair, I did cancel an appointment for cardioversion in September as I could not get away from the office. I worked with the Cardiology Clinic Case Manager to schedule the procedure for this morning. I was told it would be an outpatient procedure as it was before. No problem. Arranged a ride, since they are more insistent than ever that you cannot drive yourself home after being sedated.
Late yesterday afternoon I got a call from a Cardiology Clinic fellow telling me that I would have to stay in the hospital overnight because I am taking Dofetilide. I asked why that hadn't been communicated to me earlier. He apologized, told me no one on the team had caught it and we'd deal with it in the morning.
Got there right on time. Went through the preparation process (having an IV put in, shaving off the chest hairs where they glue the pads on, etc). Then I was told that because the cardiology clinic hadn't bothered to request a bed in advance, they were unable to do the cardioversion. The head of the clinic came to where I was to apologize and explain what had happened. He said the problem was there were too many patients in the ER for there to be an available bed. I know that isn't the real problem. Had the case manager been informed I would have to stay overnight, a bed would have been reserved for me. In that case, once the procedure was underway I couldn't be "bumped" from the bed that had been set aside.
What do I do now? Allow the VA Cardio clinic another chance to schedule my cardioversion? Navigate the Veteran Choice program and find a cardiologist outside the VA system that the VA will pay for?
I am angry, frustrated, disappointed and sad; all at the same time.
posted by me at 11:35 AM
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