The hospital system is broken.

[Mosby]

Today one of my breast cancer patients was placed under general anesthesia before I had seen her, marked her, or signed her chart.

That should never happen.

This is not the first time I have walked into a hospital and found that the rules were treated like suggestions. Surgery is not an assembly line. These are human beings. They deserve to be seen, evaluated, marked, and spoken to before anesthesia is administered.

When I asked for an explanation, I was met with defensiveness instead of accountability.

And here is the deeper issue. I am often told by insurance companies where I am allowed to operate. Even when I know that another facility is safer. Even when patterns like this have already occurred.

Physicians should be able to choose the safest environment for their patients. Insurance contracts should not override safety standards.

I am tired. But I am not going to be quiet.

We have to build a system where surgeons can vote with their feet and take patients where protocols are followed and safety comes first.

Our patients deserve better.

Link to tweet

My comments:

The hospital system in the US needs to be nationalized. Every single one, except surgical centers and clinics. This will go a long way to reduce costs and provide better access to everyone, because right now we have areas with far too many hospitals while other areas don't have enough medical services.