How Do We Make the Best Choice?
We make many choices throughout our lives, granted some much more important than others. But how do we know we’re making a really good choice–or the best choice–when major health matters are involved?
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Showing posts with label best hospitals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label best hospitals. Show all posts
Monday, March 4, 2013
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Helping Aging Parents Find The Best Hospitals
When there's a serious medical emergency it's probably safe to say few aging parents live near a hospital specializing in whatever caused the emergency. Most of us--even those who live near and help aging parents--don't know the particular specialties at hospitals located nearby. A sudden emergency may leave little time to do the homework.
Three no doubt common scenarios follow, involving different situations and actions taken. All happened in my family; all caused great concern; all turned out well. All present strategies to help parents age well.
#1--Mother's stroke experience: initially memorable for the emotional stress; equally memorable for the relief and sense of some control we felt, once we found out--and got her to a place-- where she could obtain appropriate treatment.
It began with phone call. Parents in California for the winter. Mother's speech sounded "funny." Phoned my brother with concerns and a plea to fly to California immediately if possible (he was moving into a new home that day). He got there quickly, phoned saying Mother was on her way to the hospital. I should fly out asap.
When I arrived at Mother's bedside her speech was still garbled. Dinner was on a tray. She was eating the food with her hands. I've forgotten other details. A terrific nurse updated me and said Mother's physician would be in early the next morning with test results. We learned they had limited the "damage;" there was nothing more they could do. Mother could go home later that day or the next with a caregiver, or go to a nursing home. Dad would be unable to manage her care alone... a nursing home would be in inevitable at some point.
I knew I needed time to think. Decided I wouldn't get a caregiver for that day. Knew Mother was safe spending another night in the hospital. I called a NY friend knowledgeable about medicine. After some research, he phoned back. He said to get her out of that hospital, which lacked neurology expertise, and to a neurologist at UCLA asap, and gave me a phone number. With great difficulty I got an out-patient appointment for the next day.
The next morning we picked Mother up at the hospital and drove to UCLA with films and reports. UCLA had newer technology. New films were taken. The extent of the damage was clearly pin-pointed and Mother was given different medications, a prescription for physical therapy, and an appointment to return in a month.
There have been many advances in stroke treatment since. I know Mother benefited from some because the neurologist said some were not widely used yet. I also know: a month later the improvement was so dramatic most people wouldn't have known she'd had a stroke. Nor did she have any further strokes.
* * *
#2. A family member, also living in the west, was diagnosed with colon cancer there... advanced: stage 3--maybe close to 4. Treatment was about to begin. "Not there," said my husband, who wanted to check Sloan-Kettering and knew we could be supportive if the family member came back. Indeed Sloan-Kettering had top colon cancer people. Convincing someone to come all the way to NY, however, isn't easy. It's easier when offered as "leaving no stone unturned"--making the trip to get a second opinion. That works.
While chronic health issues complicated things, Sloan-Kettering took charge: a top oncologist; an 8+ hour surgery performed by a top surgeon (who had done this countless times); a while to recuperate in NY. Instructions for additional "whatever" were given to the doctors in the west. Routine check-up visits show the surgery was a success.....and we think insurance covered everything.
* * *
#3. Then there was Dad's "heart event" in California shortly after his 76th birthday. At the movies he began feeling dizzy. He went to the theater lobby and sat down on the floor. One of the personnel came over to see if he was alright. He wasn't; his blood pressure was low. Paramedics were called. He was taken to the hospital where his internist practiced. While it wasn't the right hospital for my mother, it had a first-rate heart team whose surgeon did heart surgery on a former president a few years later. Dad had 5 bypasses on a Friday and went home the next Wednesday. He aged well, lived to be 94, and his death was not heart-related.
So how do we generalize? When helping aging parents is a part of our life and our parents live long enough, the odds of serious medical problems necessitating hospitalization are great. Getting parents to a hospital with the appropriate highly experienced specialists, can up the odds for a successful result that helps parents continue to age well...and medical insurance may make it more affordable than one might think.
Three no doubt common scenarios follow, involving different situations and actions taken. All happened in my family; all caused great concern; all turned out well. All present strategies to help parents age well.
#1--Mother's stroke experience: initially memorable for the emotional stress; equally memorable for the relief and sense of some control we felt, once we found out--and got her to a place-- where she could obtain appropriate treatment.
It began with phone call. Parents in California for the winter. Mother's speech sounded "funny." Phoned my brother with concerns and a plea to fly to California immediately if possible (he was moving into a new home that day). He got there quickly, phoned saying Mother was on her way to the hospital. I should fly out asap.
When I arrived at Mother's bedside her speech was still garbled. Dinner was on a tray. She was eating the food with her hands. I've forgotten other details. A terrific nurse updated me and said Mother's physician would be in early the next morning with test results. We learned they had limited the "damage;" there was nothing more they could do. Mother could go home later that day or the next with a caregiver, or go to a nursing home. Dad would be unable to manage her care alone... a nursing home would be in inevitable at some point.
I knew I needed time to think. Decided I wouldn't get a caregiver for that day. Knew Mother was safe spending another night in the hospital. I called a NY friend knowledgeable about medicine. After some research, he phoned back. He said to get her out of that hospital, which lacked neurology expertise, and to a neurologist at UCLA asap, and gave me a phone number. With great difficulty I got an out-patient appointment for the next day.
The next morning we picked Mother up at the hospital and drove to UCLA with films and reports. UCLA had newer technology. New films were taken. The extent of the damage was clearly pin-pointed and Mother was given different medications, a prescription for physical therapy, and an appointment to return in a month.
There have been many advances in stroke treatment since. I know Mother benefited from some because the neurologist said some were not widely used yet. I also know: a month later the improvement was so dramatic most people wouldn't have known she'd had a stroke. Nor did she have any further strokes.
* * *
#2. A family member, also living in the west, was diagnosed with colon cancer there... advanced: stage 3--maybe close to 4. Treatment was about to begin. "Not there," said my husband, who wanted to check Sloan-Kettering and knew we could be supportive if the family member came back. Indeed Sloan-Kettering had top colon cancer people. Convincing someone to come all the way to NY, however, isn't easy. It's easier when offered as "leaving no stone unturned"--making the trip to get a second opinion. That works.
While chronic health issues complicated things, Sloan-Kettering took charge: a top oncologist; an 8+ hour surgery performed by a top surgeon (who had done this countless times); a while to recuperate in NY. Instructions for additional "whatever" were given to the doctors in the west. Routine check-up visits show the surgery was a success.....and we think insurance covered everything.
* * *
#3. Then there was Dad's "heart event" in California shortly after his 76th birthday. At the movies he began feeling dizzy. He went to the theater lobby and sat down on the floor. One of the personnel came over to see if he was alright. He wasn't; his blood pressure was low. Paramedics were called. He was taken to the hospital where his internist practiced. While it wasn't the right hospital for my mother, it had a first-rate heart team whose surgeon did heart surgery on a former president a few years later. Dad had 5 bypasses on a Friday and went home the next Wednesday. He aged well, lived to be 94, and his death was not heart-related.
So how do we generalize? When helping aging parents is a part of our life and our parents live long enough, the odds of serious medical problems necessitating hospitalization are great. Getting parents to a hospital with the appropriate highly experienced specialists, can up the odds for a successful result that helps parents continue to age well...and medical insurance may make it more affordable than one might think.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Aging Parents, Best Hospitals, 16 Specialties: 5 Reasons to Use Them
Mt. Sinai Hospital Ranked #1 in Geriatrics--2010-2011
Mt. Sinai Hospital's Geriatrics Department, started by Dr. Robert Butler in 1982, (last Tuesday's post) was ranked #1 this week in the latest US News & World Report's "Best Hospitals" issue (August 2010). An additional 49 hospitals' geriatric departments complete the list.
Fifteen other specialty departments are also ranked. And Johns Hopkins Hospital ranks #1 as the top hospital in the country--having 15 of the 16 specialties ranking at or near the top. US News & World Report compiles this list every year (and has done so for over 20 years) "to guide patients who need an unusually high level of hospital care" (which includes high-risk patients). Isn't this of enormous benefit to help aging parents?
Fifteen other specialty departments are also ranked. And Johns Hopkins Hospital ranks #1 as the top hospital in the country--having 15 of the 16 specialties ranking at or near the top. US News & World Report compiles this list every year (and has done so for over 20 years) "to guide patients who need an unusually high level of hospital care" (which includes high-risk patients). Isn't this of enormous benefit to help aging parents?
Life takes on a more delicate balance as people age. Making well-informed decisions ups the odds in our efforts to help parents age well.
5 reasons to consider the best hospitals' specialties to help aging parents
5 reasons to consider the best hospitals' specialties to help aging parents
- Approximately the same time is involved, be it for procedures done in excellent hospitals or less than excellent hospitals; with excellent doctors or less excellent doctors. Only the outcomes may be different.
- Quality of life is at risk; the more experienced the hospital and medical professionals are (the more times they've done your parents' needed procedure) the better the odds to have encountered and handled well unexpected problems.
- Older people don't bounce back so quickly. Patients lose independence in hospitals. It's important they gain the confidence to feel some control. Ideally professionals working in the best hospitals' specialties departments should have done "it" (what ever your parents' medical situation is), worked with "it," handled "it"--over and over and over. Thus, they instill confidence in you and your parents based on countless experiences with the expected and unexpected.
- It takes hard work to recover well from certain procedures. The skill of the professionals following a procedure is a significant factor; it helps aging parents in their recovery and in regaining a positive outlook. And it's so important for these senior citizens to push themselves to move forward so they can get back to normal--so the hospital experience doesn't take them down a notch.
- And yet--there are emergencies when we do what we must in a hurry. And there are times when we know the decisions we make are crucial and we may get only one chance to do it right. But even then, the professionals in the best hospitals can come to the rescue.
Have you had this experience?
Two true stories will bring the "best hospitals" theme to life in this coming Tuesday's post. One an emergency (stroke); the other a well-thought out (after arguments and pressure) plan to treat advanced colon cancer. While not planned at the outset of the each health crisis, the best hospitals figured prominently in both. In the meantime, US News & World Report is at your newsstand now.
Check out my new site (still needs homepage), same blog, added tabs: http:helpparentsagewell.com
Check out my new site (still needs homepage), same blog, added tabs: http:helpparentsagewell.com
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