I’ve had very personal experiences with my mother and father in hospital settings which led me on a mission to be a patient “advocate”. My father went into a hospital in Florida where he was passing out. I did not identify myself as a physician. I requested to speak to the cardiologist before my dad’s scheduled discharge but the physician assistant (PA) told me the cardiologist was busy and I should address the questions to the PA himself. When I started speaking medical jargon, the physician assistant knew he was in over his head and needless to say my father later had a pacemaker placed that day instead of being inappropriately discharged.

In the recent past, my elderly mother was in an ICU for an overwhelming urinary tract infection. I advocated for her very hard despite the ICU medical team’s resistance and my mother lived to see the birth of three great grandchildren and be at her granddaughter’s wedding.

Everybody knows the healthcare system is not what it used to be. Much more work is placed on the healthcare provider inputting data into the EMR which causes distraction and less time to talk to the patient.