Originally Posted by thelegges (Post 1675175)

The first PA program was in the mid 60s. Physicians started hiring for their practice late 90s early 2000, when insurance companies allowed visit and surgeries to be billed.
No matter what state you live in PAs have always be highly regarded. Most were hired in hospitals. Physicians had to pay them out of their practice if they were used privately, thus it was a luxury.
Now it a necessity, not a luxury, to have a PA or a FA in office and surgery, they have become more prominent in the community.
Like a first responder PAs or FAs can get medical issue expedited to the best medical care needed.

Originally Posted by geofitz13 (Post 1674656)

My wife fell and broke both ankles while in South Carolina on 8/17. We went to a local Urgent Care where they took xrays and splinted her. They advised to see an ortho as soon as possible. They gave us the written report as well as a disc containing the xrays.
8/19 we call our provider, and are told we could see a PA late in the afternoon. (At this point, she is in excruciating pain, meds not helping.) I told them that we had xrays in hand, along with physicians's report, and we needed to see ortho. They refused, said the PA needed to see her to evaluate. We then called ortho directly. I again told them we had xrays and report, and the condition my wife was in. They said they could fit her in in OCTOBER. Two broken ankles and they think she should wait two months. We then called an ambulance to have her taken to the Villages Hospital. We were advised to go to Ocala, as Villages hospital was not capable of treating this type of injury. So off to Ocala we went. She was re-xrayed, resplinted, and was told to see their ortho ASAP. We saw him about two hours later. Examined, resplinted (because VHS would not allow him to put her in boots, wants their own supplier) and sent on her way. Fortunately, no surgery was needed, but it was explained that if she had not been treated promptly, she could have further injured herself.
Is it reasonable for VHS ortho to defer treatment for two freshly broken ankles for TWO MONTHS?? The docs at Ocala certainly didn't think so.
We both have the same PC in VHS, and I have an appointment scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. She is going to get an earful. As will the people in the VHS office in Sumter Landing. Again, two broken ankles, don't bother treating for two months?? I think this is borderline malpractice.

Originally Posted by geofitz13 (Post 1674693)

"Break their cronyism"??? Are you joking?? She is their PATIENT, they have a legal responsiblilty to provide services. Ortho made it clear that they do not do same day or next day visits. It was made quite clear that a physician had already recommended seeing ortho as soon as possible. The folks in Ocala were pretty clear in that she could have exacerbated the injury if we had waited for the time suggested by Villages ortho.
I'm only trying to see if our expectations of service are unreasonable. I think I may be looking at something other than the Villages Health System when we renew next year.

Originally Posted by Topspinmo (Post 1682109)

Makes some of us glad we got kicked out VHS.

Originally Posted by geofitz13 (Post 1674769)

Thank you all for your replies. It's been an eye opener. My original question was, am I being unreasonable. Had they said "we can see you Thursday" or "we can see you Friday", that would have been entirely acceptable to me. A few days would have been inconvenient, but not unreasonable (to me). But for ortho to state that it was okay for a period of a couple months before even looking at it, I found unreasonable. Perhaps I am wrong. Judging by the comments here, I guess we need to adjust our expectations for emergency health care. BTW, I have had absolutely no issues with routine care, in fact, I find they are exceptional is this regard. Again, I sincerely thank everyone for your input. This site is a great resource for learning about TV.

Originally Posted by Topspinmo (Post 1682109)

Makes some of us glad we got kicked out VHS.

Originally Posted by JimJohnson (Post 1685557)

Don’t blindly believe statements like: “The Villages Hospital is NOT part of The Village Health System”.
An Innovative Approach to Hospital Care - The Villages Health
This site Shows the connection of the two and how they coordinate services and treatments.

I truly like and use this site for information, but always double check.

Originally Posted by graciegirl (Post 1685602)

TVRH (The Villages Regional Hospital) is run by a hospital company that leases the buildings from the developer who built them and owns them. That company changed hands about eight years ago. The folks who run the hospital are renters.

The Villages Health system, the series of facilties like Creekside is run and owned by the developers. And The Villages Health specialty center is run by the developer.

The ability to access information of a patient hospitalized is a very good thing but it doesn't mean they are both run by the same company.

The Villages Regional Hospital is NOT part of the Villages Health System.
My husband who is a patient at The Villages Health System recently had surgery in a Ocala hospital at the direction of his Villages Health surgeon.

Originally Posted by JimJohnson (Post 1685809)

You are missing the point.. Since they share information and support each other in coordination of patient care, THEY ARE PART OF THE SAME SYSTEM. You seem to be focused on the Money aspect. I am focused on the care and needs of the patient.

“The Villages® Regional Hospital shares the same Electronic Medical Record (EMR) with TVH so our team can access your medical history, test results, and treatments at any time. In addition to the TVH team members we have overseeing your care at the hospital, this shared medical record helps with care coordination to ensure the best health outcomes for you”

System - Wikipedia
“A system is a group of interacting or interrelated entities that form a unified whole. A system is delineated by its spatial and temporal boundaries, surrounded and influenced by its environment, described by its structure and purpose and expressed in its functioning.” NOTE: no mention of financial connection!

For me the bottom line is to help the patient first.

Originally Posted by Mikeod (Post 1685844)

Using that logic, if the medical group I worked for in CA happened to use the same EMR software, would that make them the same entity as TVRH? When I was part of the team in CA evaluating various EMR programs, one of the features we sought was the ability for the information to be available wherever one of our patients happened to need care. Using the same program as TVRH doesn’t make Villages Health the same entity, rather it enhances patient care by making information readily available to the people providing the care.

Originally Posted by JimJohnson (Post 1685809)

You are missing the point.. Since they share information and support each other in coordination of patient care, THEY ARE PART OF THE SAME SYSTEM. You seem to be focused on the Money aspect. I am focused on the care and needs of the patient.

“The Villages® Regional Hospital shares the same Electronic Medical Record (EMR) with TVH so our team can access your medical history, test results, and treatments at any time. In addition to the TVH team members we have overseeing your care at the hospital, this shared medical record helps with care coordination to ensure the best health outcomes for you”

System - Wikipedia
“A system is a group of interacting or interrelated entities that form a unified whole. A system is delineated by its spatial and temporal boundaries, surrounded and influenced by its environment, described by its structure and purpose and expressed in its functioning.” NOTE: no mention of financial connection!

For me the bottom line is to help the patient first.