#healthcare nightmares

[neverland-royaltie]

This is a notice to everyone.

DO. NOT. GO. INTO. HEALTHCARE.

especially right now. It’s draining mentally, emotionally and physically. I’ve been a CNA/GNA for five and a half years. I’ve loved my job up until COVID hit. I loved helping people and seeing them get better, and hated crying with my coworkers when others passed. But I’ve also been hit, kicked, called slurs, been punched and given a concussion, and had my scrub top literally ripped off of me and my supervisor refused to let me go get another (even tho I live a few minutes away). Last night I explained to someone that I want them to do as much as they can, so they get better. I’ve seen them get up and do things on their own, and they begin to gaslight both me and my coworkers. Telling me that I should not be in this profession. (Note, I am one of the people that works my ass off. I’ve done 20 day stretches because of how short we were and how desperate staffing is.) that set something off in me. I broke. I helped them with what they needed and ran to the bathroom sobbing. I could not keep it together. When the director of nursing came in, I explained the situation. I explained how I feel abused at this job, we are all burnt out and I was quite literally crying for help. I explained how I almost walked out of the job. I also explained I have been in the ER and to the doctor multiple times for severe pain from my job. All I got in response was “I’m glad you didn’t”. Management doesn’t care about us. They care that the patients are content and they are getting money. I couldn’t breathe and she just stood there and stared at me. They work us shorter and shorter every day. Then beg us to come in for “bonus money” because people call out. These conditions are unbearable. We have had multiple people walk out on the job, knowing they will lose any certification they have. We have waves of people quitting every week it seems, and understandably so. The expectations are too high for such few staff. And we are given more to do every day. Whatever you do. Healthcare is not worth it anymore. It’s constant burnout and you’re never guaranteed days to yourself. There is so much more I can share. But I’ll keep it at this. If you have any questions as my experience as an aide, feel free to ask away.

[houseswife]

House MD makes for a way more interesting Sherlock adaptation than any other because it truly explores the depths of the character’s potential as a rude, selfish sociopath by making him American

[tethered-heartstrings]

[cutie-chimera]

At the hospital for my pre-op tests. The 23rd can't come soon enough.

[curiositysavesthecat]

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[skyloftian-nutcase]

A writing suggestion: one of the HC AU boys gets a thank you card from a patient that was difficult to work with. (I'm assuming hospitals can receive mail, the vet clinic I used to work at got lots of cards.)

Four yawned as he looked begrudgingly at his coffee. How had it still not kicked in yet? He'd just gotten report and he needed to rev up for the day.

Just as he was writing notes for his shift, the manager stopped by. Four glanced up at him hesitantly, ignoring Vaati's smug smirk in the background, before the manager smiled.

"Morning, Link," the manager greeted. "We got this card from a patient, so I wanted to make sure you got it."

A card? Both Four and Vaati frowned, one in confusion and the other in disappointment. Slowly, he took the card and opened it. The words were kind, with an apology included in the gratitude, and he felt bemused until he read the name.

That name. Which patient was... oh. Oh.

The one who had been withdrawing from alcohol. That patient had been a nightmare. Yet here this card was, a testament to their capability of kindness, and it touched Four far more than any thank you he'd gotten for months.

By heaven, it was nice to remember people could be good.

[redshift-13]

United States Reaches $37 Million Settlement Of Fraud Lawsuit Against Cigna For Submitting False And Invalid Diagnosis Codes To Artificially Inflate Its Medicare Advantage Payments

...

Exhibit #562,344 - Corporate Executives Enjoy Broad Immunity for Large-Scale Crimes

To state the obvious - Cigna didn't commit fraud, people within Cigna did.

But tonight the protected felons in Cigna are eating dinner at home and will go to work tomorrow and take home their bonuses at the end of the year, and the year after that.

Another recent Cigna scam got them sued in California, which requires Cigna to actually examine medical reimbursement claims, not toss them aside.

Cigna health giant accused of improperly rejecting thousands of patient claims using an algorithm https://apnews.com/article/cigna-california-health-coverage-lawsuit-4543b47cd6057519a7e8dc6d90a61866

The company used an algorithm called PXDX, shorthand for ''procedure-to-diagnosis,” to identify whether claims met certain requirements, spending an average of just 1.2 seconds on each review, according to the lawsuit. Huge batches of claims were then sent on to doctors who signed off on the denials, the lawsuit said. “Relying on the PXDX system, Cigna’s doctors instantly reject claims on medical grounds without ever opening patient files, leaving thousands of patients effectively without coverage and with unexpected bills,” according to the lawsuit.

"Improperly rejecting thousands of patient claims" is an anodyne description, technically true, but it belies the accurate characterization of this crime - grand theft against 100s of thousands of people. Even the generic categorization of Cigna as a "health insurance company" has an obscurantist function - it masks the actual public health and economic function of the company, which is to generate profit for executives and shareholders by rationing care for millions. Reduced and simplified further, Cigna harms public health for profit.

Even when they're not committing crimes, wealthy Cigna executives make yet more money by trying to load up their customers with medical debt by finding ways to "legitimately" deny claims. This may not be illegal in many cases, but if you're fine with this normalized plunder directed against you, a systematized and blatant scheme to transfer wealth to shareholders, you might want to think again.

David Cordani, Cigna CEO

Cordani is being lavishly rewarded by forcing large numbers of people into medical debt and bankruptcy:

His nearly $21 million package for 2022 comes with a $1.5 million salary, the same he's recorded since 2020. He brought in $12,644,278 in stock awards and $2,900,029 in option awards. Non-equity incentive plan compensation totaled $3,600,000, according to Cigna Group's proxy filing.

[mokeonn]

Job hunting is an absolute nightmare because it's like I have a million reasons to need this job and the money from it and it's basically like telling the job that I'm pretty much their bitch because I need the money, and they'll just reject you because you didn't downright worship a company or bc you were honest on the application personality quiz

[disengaged]

so i left the psych ward against medical advice 💁

they detained me for hours (while classified as a voluntary patient) and when i told them it was illegal a nurse looked me in the face and told me he didn't care about my rights 👍

& then when i got upset about being illegally detained he told me getting emotional is evidence that i am incompetent and if they want they can just keep forming me for it as long as they want 👍

and then they ignored me for two hours and refused to give me my belongings. and also called four (4) giant male security guards to have on standby 👍 even though i have zero history of violence, am 5'5" and weigh (not much) and previously disclosed to them many, many times that i have a history of ptsd, part of which is specifically hospital trauma 👍

and then they locked me in a room and searched all of my belongings to find a reason to form me 👍

like i'm gonna throw up thinking about it. (also they still have my wallet with all my IDs and credit cards.)

anyways i got the fuck out. and it was like 12:30am but my friend picked me up and i had a fucking panic-oh-fuck-oh-shit-meltdown in his car . but i went and took a shower and then he drove me to another hospital

and they formed me too except it's way nicer here and the staff are so nice. & the unit is way bigger and quieter . and they actually listened to me and referred me to a rheumatologist (after ...... 6-7 years of begging various doctors to be taken seriously)

and i have hope for the first time in a long time! & i'm getting discharged tomorrow :)

[running-tweezers]

I made the Scary Appointment about the Scary Symptoms, and I only cried a little bit, pls clap

[crimeronan]

it kind of is a relief that the mental health clinic said i'm too stable to need a full psychiatrist tho. they wanted me to sign intake paperwork giving them the right to administer nonconsensual electroshock therapy & antipsychotics if my judgment is ruled """impaired""" and i was like "oh, uh, would it be okay for me to review this a little more before i sign it??" and the social worker was like "oh, that form is optional and needs two witnesses anyway." why do you give it to new patients in their normal intake forms without clarifying that it's optional then. u ethically bankrupt nightmare snakes.

[lazy-toad]

The thing about being trans in the UK is just accepting the fact that I may just straight up never be able to medically transition

[ghostzzy]

$416 and 2 hours in the car later, i have a 30 day refill of my antidepressants.

[skyloftian-nutcase]

Hole for the writing game

"Wow, that was quite the stinker!" Twilight teased the baby as he finished making her diaper, tickling her belly. He managed to get a little giggle out of the child, and he smiled brightly.

Ilia, however, stared in horror. "Link... your... your glove has a hole in it."

Twilight's smile vanished in an instant and he slowly gazed at his fingers with dread.

[redshift-13]

There is a large tapestry of injustice in the United States and in medicine in general. But this is a particularly egregious kind of predation on a particularly vulnerable population that arouses the ire of most everyone studying this. I was heartened to learn how easily this crosses ideological boundaries. I mean, people have varied solutions for this, some of which would, you know, only tinker at the edges and some of which would, I think, solve the problem in a much more meaningful way. But when confronted with the reality of what is going on, folks on the center right, folks in the center, people of faith, people of no faith, socialists, anarchists, and even some pretty conservative voices are horrified. They are horrified that a nonprofit, voluntary, what used to be known as a charity hospital is taking patients to court, seizing their assets, and placing them in jail. That is not something that tends to divide audiences. It is an entry point for folks to understand how far we have gone into the era of financialization and privatization, how it has corrupted even our most charitable institutions, our institutions that we would think were most communal in nature, most devoted to fellow feeling, most overtly outside the capitalist system. These are nonprofit hospitals that have forsworn profits, that have no shareholders, that are descendants of the medieval almshouse tradition — those are now places where people can be expected to be hounded to the ends of the earth for their debts. I think that does help bring people into the fold. The history of transformation is one that often draws on this sense of ire, this sense of anger, this sense that things can be better.

More at the link.

[kkoct-ik]

my dysphoria is absolutely vile these past two days can somebody sent me a traffic character to draw with big naturals

edit: we got some boys i love you all