Friday, August 26, 2016
GHC losing good docs
I started using Group Health in 2009, and was immediately impressed by the excellent doctors and the horrible bureaucracy. The first doctor was SO good that he broke my 20-year dislike of all medicine. I regained a sense of trust. Two years ago he retired or quit, sending a form letter about 'moving closer to his aging parents'. I had noticed earlier that he seemed to be downcast and dispirited, so I suspected the real reason was simpler.
GHC switched me to a PA instead of an MD, and she was just as good. Now she's retiring or resigning with a nearly identical form letter. I don't need to guess the real reason. This month has been my annual set of horrible interactions with the GHC bureaucracy, as they hold my BP pills captive until I go in for two separate meaningless appointments. This required quite a bit of emailing, and I noticed that the PA was writing her emails around midnight.
Doctor types are prepared to work long hours helping people, but a lot of them are terminally tired of working 18-hour days filled with bureaucratic shit. My brief annual encounter with this shit is bad enough... can't imagine dealing with it all day and all night for years.
Our alleged "health care system" has been roaring downhill for decades. Some of the idiocies predate Romneycare, but Romneycare multiplied them by 10. All the worst aspects of monopolistic crony capitalism, PLUS the worst aspects of mindless bureaucracy, PLUS the worst aspects of insanely rigid responses to litigation. Worst of all worlds. Doing far more harm than good.
¶ 3:55 AM 
