The Last of the American Samurais
....in the Killing Fields of Corporate-Controlled Medicine
Lester Greenberg was my pediatrician.
People often ask me why I went into medicine. They say "Dr. K, why did you go into medicine?" People are so literal sometimes. For me the answer is easy. The role of Jerry McGuire opposite Renee Zellwegger was taken by Tom Cruise so I had no other choice. I figured that being a doctor was my only chance of meeting Ms. Z since she would eventually sprain an ankle or break a bone. I thought it was a good plan at the time. Who knew?
Sometimes the question is not why anyone becomes a doctor but why anyone remains a doctor. What is at the soul of the decision to be a doctor? Actually the decision to become a doctor in certain cultures is preordained. For example, I suspect that the decision for me to become a doctor was made while I was still in the womb. In fact, it is well known and documented in the Old Testament (special edition) that in my religion the issue of abortion is easily determined. The fetus does not become a life until he gets into medical school. Note the "he" component of that.
What was so special about Dr. Greenberg? For one, he seemed to do nearly everything. It is interesting the memories I have of him. In a sense they were probably just glimpses of his life but in my mind they put together a mosaic of a remarkable man. Squeezing all the years of going to him into a single day he did the following:
To top it all off, he lived in a house on my block. My dad owned a small grocery store on the beach in Rockaway and my mom at that time did not work. Our doctor lived on our block. A regular house. A regular guy. A regular car.
Long before corporations started "managing care" Dr. Greenberg managed my care. He managed the care of a quadrillion kids without the help of care coordinators, clinical pathways, precertification specialists, and insurance on-call nurses. Amazing concept.
I miss Dr. Greenberg. I miss all the Dr. Greenbergs of the world.
What happened? I wish I knew. Maybe it was money. Maybe when doctors started making "easy" money from insurance companies in the 70's and 80's they lost touch with the people they cared for. In the quest for the dollars I think doctors of that era gave up some serious substantive rights to insurance companies. It reminds me of the movie the Last Samurai. The honor of the individual and the recognition of the force of individual spirit has been traded in for commodities and corporate decisions. The insurance companies have gattling guns with lawyers, contracts, and the government on their side and a solo practitioner doctor caring for the patient has the firepower of a Twinkie to combat them.
I'd take the Twinkie any day of the week and at the end of the day I will stand alone with my pride and honor intact.
I know I can down it with some Lipitor at least.
Dr. K.
Related Topics: Making Provider Choices in Managed Care, Battling the HMO Formulary
Lester Greenberg was my pediatrician.
People often ask me why I went into medicine. They say "Dr. K, why did you go into medicine?" People are so literal sometimes. For me the answer is easy. The role of Jerry McGuire opposite Renee Zellwegger was taken by Tom Cruise so I had no other choice. I figured that being a doctor was my only chance of meeting Ms. Z since she would eventually sprain an ankle or break a bone. I thought it was a good plan at the time. Who knew?
Sometimes the question is not why anyone becomes a doctor but why anyone remains a doctor. What is at the soul of the decision to be a doctor? Actually the decision to become a doctor in certain cultures is preordained. For example, I suspect that the decision for me to become a doctor was made while I was still in the womb. In fact, it is well known and documented in the Old Testament (special edition) that in my religion the issue of abortion is easily determined. The fetus does not become a life until he gets into medical school. Note the "he" component of that.
What was so special about Dr. Greenberg? For one, he seemed to do nearly everything. It is interesting the memories I have of him. In a sense they were probably just glimpses of his life but in my mind they put together a mosaic of a remarkable man. Squeezing all the years of going to him into a single day he did the following:
- Gave polio vaccines
- Reduced a wrist fracture, rolled his own plaster and put the cast on
- Cleaned wax out of a kids ear with a contraption that looked like a cross between a cyclotron and a bazooka
- Made sure everyone got a lollipop when they left
- Listened to all the questions from my mom. She had a lot of questions. He had a lot of answers.
To top it all off, he lived in a house on my block. My dad owned a small grocery store on the beach in Rockaway and my mom at that time did not work. Our doctor lived on our block. A regular house. A regular guy. A regular car.
Long before corporations started "managing care" Dr. Greenberg managed my care. He managed the care of a quadrillion kids without the help of care coordinators, clinical pathways, precertification specialists, and insurance on-call nurses. Amazing concept.
I miss Dr. Greenberg. I miss all the Dr. Greenbergs of the world.
What happened? I wish I knew. Maybe it was money. Maybe when doctors started making "easy" money from insurance companies in the 70's and 80's they lost touch with the people they cared for. In the quest for the dollars I think doctors of that era gave up some serious substantive rights to insurance companies. It reminds me of the movie the Last Samurai. The honor of the individual and the recognition of the force of individual spirit has been traded in for commodities and corporate decisions. The insurance companies have gattling guns with lawyers, contracts, and the government on their side and a solo practitioner doctor caring for the patient has the firepower of a Twinkie to combat them.
I'd take the Twinkie any day of the week and at the end of the day I will stand alone with my pride and honor intact.
I know I can down it with some Lipitor at least.
Dr. K.
Related Topics: Making Provider Choices in Managed Care, Battling the HMO Formulary
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2 Comments:
I have never understood why doctors don't just buy up all the stock of the insurance companies, then they can set there own rates by voting with there stock. If they ever got smart they would form a union and then if they added all the nurses...well they all could really practice medicine.
If we form a union we all go to prison.
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