Patients at South Florida hospitals too often return

[mfcorey1]

By Bob LaMendola, Sun Sentinel

6:01 p.m. EDT, July 9, 2011
Eleven South Florida hospitals have been singled out by the federal government for not getting patients well before sending them home.

Too many of the patients had to be readmitted to the hospital for complications and relapses that federal officials say could have or should have been prevented

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/fl-hk-hospital-infections-20110628,0,190981.story

[Peter1x9]

1. "Some never picked up prescribed drugs from pharmacies."

Maybe because they were just barely getting by and didn't have hundreds of dollars just sitting around?

"Health officials say patients are more likely to return to the hospital if they are frail elderly, uninsured, low-income or living in minority neighborhoods with less access to medical care."



Wake up people, the "death panels" are already here and have been for a very long time. This is what happens when you have the most expensive and one of the only privatized healthcare systems in the world.

:mad: :mad: :mad:

[Liberal_in_LA]

8. +100

[Name removed]

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[ejpoeta]

3. that MUST be it. all cuban immigrants with no insurance. everyone else

in florida probably HAS insurance and only goes to the ER for emergencies. I know in wny where i live only immigrants use the ERs and everyone else goes to a regular doctor. :sarcasm:

the fact is that more and more people, even those who HAVE insurance practically have no insurance because the deductible and copays are so high that they can't afford to use it. That is true in Florida and it is true all across the country. And then they end up in the ER and they can't afford to get the prescriptions either.

[Chan790]

4. You missed the issue here...

as many people would if they were not well-versed in the minutia of the situation.

The largely-RW wealthy Cuban population (which is significant but not even a quarter of all Cubans in Miami) of greater Miami often opts to not get insurance because they know they can go to the hospital, enter through ER, get the treatment needed and stiff the hospital because the hospitals don't have the resources to pick the needles out of the haystack (these hospitals also serve a lot of actual indigents) and ID the abusers let alone go after them because all of that costs even more money that is better spent on treatment. On those rare cases where they can't get the service they want initially because of no insurance, they go to private practice doctors to get those services and/or to get them into the procedures paying cash. (Note that this also boosts the re-entry visit numbers.) What's more, they're doing it intentionally to kill access to the poor so they won't have to pay for it in high taxes.

I see the same thing here in DC with one of my "major-wealth" clients, the guy's worth millions and owns a thriving business he doesn't run. When he broke his foot, he spent all day sitting in the waiting room of the free clinic at Providence Hospital...because it was free. I said "Jorge, wouldn't it be better to go to Georgetown and get treated quickly?"; "No, this is free. Why should only the drug addicts, NRAs (Non-Resident Aliens. Covers a lot of people actually but is used as a euphemism for "Illegal immigrants.") and homeless get free medical?" I'd turn his ass in if I knew what he was doing was illegal in some way or who to call.

Ultra-RW polygamous sects get caught from time to time doing the same thing with food stamps and WIC. Apply to get services for "legally-unwed" mothers to take care of their children where no need exists (usually they're living with their spouses and sister-wives. Also, it's not the downtrodden of the community doing it, it's the affluent because they have the means to pull it off) because they could make it look good enough on paper to not be scrutinized; while they certainly used the services, the motivation is one of starving the beast and killing off services for everybody else which they view as evil. They view government as adversarial.

[ejpoeta]

5. I can't imagine people purposely doing such a thing. I apologize then because

I honestly can't imagine anyone purposely going to the ER and doing that if they have the means to pay or to go to a free clinic if they are a millionaire like that. that is disgusting. uggh.

[area51]

6. Kick.

I'd be surprised if it only happens in FL. My dad got kicked out of a hospital too early; he wound up having to be readmitted. This will continue to happen as long as health care is seen as a for-profit service.

[XanaDUer]

7. Now that the government is implementing pay-for-performance rules

this is going to cost hospitals where patients come in, say, for something they caught in the hospital, or got from the hospital, like a bed sore.