[dillywho]

Too many here do not seem to realize that Villagers are not the only ones using TVRH. It is not exclusive to us.

One reason for the long waits is that so many come to the ER instead of the Urgent Care centers. (As someone else pointed out, the UC will call an ambulance for something that is beyond their scope of care.) I am not talking the middle of the night but the daytime hours. I overheard one lady in the ER making a ruckus about her long wait who had been experiencing some back pain for several days and finally decided to come to the ER. This does not qualify as an "emergency" that needs to be seen immediately. The ER needs to be for emergencies only and conditions that can only be taken care of in a hospital.

As for being developer owned, the health care system is not. If it were, it would be like the rec centers, etc. that have been referenced in this thread and you would have to have your Villages ID to be treated there.

Restaurants and hospitals cannot be compared. You always have time to drive wherever to a restaurant regardless of the distance. This is not the case if you have a life-threatening emergency.

I would still like for someone to explain to me why the waiting room in the ER is not packed during holiday times. It was virtually empty over Easter. This I observed first-hand on my way in and out of the hospital when my husband was in ICU. Come Monday morning....different story.

I know this is a rant, but when you still have your loved one because of the excellent care received here, you'd be hard-pressed to see it any other way. Even when you get into the ER treatment rooms (everyone is triaged), any testing takes time....lots of time. Until results are known, you wait. Your tests are not sent to the front of the line unless there is a compelling reason.

[queasy27]

Originally Posted by dillywho

One reason for the long waits is that so many come to the ER instead of the Urgent Care centers. (As someone else pointed out, the UC will call an ambulance for something that is beyond their scope of care.) I am not talking the middle of the night but the daytime hours. I overheard one lady in the ER making a ruckus about her long wait who had been experiencing some back pain for several days and finally decided to come to the ER. This does not qualify as an "emergency" that needs to be seen immediately. The ER needs to be for emergencies only and conditions that can only be taken care of in a hospital.

There's no cure (ha!) for human nature -- people also call 911for the most mundane things.

But wouldn't it be nice if the process also worked in reverse and the hospital could send patients to urgent care. The walk-in facility could be located near/adjacent to the ER.

[Bizdoc]

Originally Posted by dillywho

I would still like for someone to explain to me why the waiting room in the ER is not packed during holiday times. It was virtually empty over Easter. This I observed first-hand on my way in and out of the hospital when my husband was in ICU. Come Monday morning....different story.
.

Having worked for a number of years in ERs at holiday time and been a medical administrator for a time, people are too busy to realize and/or acknowledge that they are ill. Go to almost any hospital ER on Christmas day and you will see lots of empty chairs. Ditto New Years Eve with New Years Day packed with folks who sobered up enough to realize what they did to themselves.

[Mack184]

Originally Posted by daviskgb

The same thing does not necessarily happen in other Emergency Departments (ED). Many hosptals have processes and practices in place to provide superior service that results in excellent clinical outcomes and higher patient satisfaction rates. Someone mentioned what powers that be allow this, we are the powers that be, we are the consumers. Take your business elsewhere. You would drive an extra mile to go to a new restaurant, do the same for your health. And complain! Letters to the CEO of hospital, the parent corporation and to your physician. Become involved, do not settle for less.

Actually...take a trip in most major city ERs and you will find that a 36 hour wait is not the least bit uncommon. Most hospital ERs are WAY overburdened by things that are NOT the definition of a TRUE emergency. I hate to say it..but while a kidney stone hurts like fire it is NOT a TRUE emergency. Things like emergent strokes, MIs, gunshots, severe trauma and babies popping out trump a kidney stone every single time.

As far as complaining to hospital management, especially TVRHs hospital management, you would be better off to direct your complaints to the POTUS. Why? Because at his lawful direction in 2010 he required Medicare to REDUCE the amount of payment to hospitals and doctors. Those reimbursements will drop once more with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act on 1/1/2014.

There is currently an active thread here on TOTV griping about the cost of greens fees and other fees within TV..and how things cost more than they used to. Virtually EVERYTHING costs more than it used to. A gallon of milk, a gallon of gas, a can of beans..a knee replacement, a heart stent and so on. NOTHING costs less.

I have mentioned this multiple times here, and nobody wants to listen, but the problem at TVRH is that it receives fully 88% of it's revenue from Medicare. While the price of virtually everything is rising, the hospital is being forced to get paid less and less for the many different services it must perform in it's hospital. So exactly how do they expand their number of beds, expand their slate of doctors, nurses and other staff while they are forced to take less and less to do the same amount of work? Costs didn't go down. The cost of doing business didn't go down, but the patient load is going up and reimbursements are going down.

Last year it was said that there would be no COLA increase for SS. Seniors cried bloody murder! How would you like to get 30% less than you did? Well, that's what your local hospital is trying to figure out because that's what's been happening to them! But to listen here they are just a bunch of incompetent mangers and lazy staff who don't care about their patients! Get real! The problem is that they have to do more & more with less and less. Take a 30% cut on YOUR income and then see how you make up the difference.

And..it's not going to get better as long as the senior population here continues to increase and the Medicare reimbursements continue to get lowered. THAT is the problem. Not incompetent or uncaring service from the hospital.

[ilovetv]

Originally Posted by Mack184

Actually...take a trip in most major city ERs and you will find that a 36 hour wait is not the least bit uncommon. Most hospital ERs are WAY overburdened by things that are NOT the definition of a TRUE emergency. I hate to say it..but while a kidney stone hurts like fire it is NOT a TRUE emergency. Things like emergent strokes, MIs, gunshots, severe trauma and babies popping out trump a kidney stone every single time.

As far as complaining to hospital management, especially TVRHs hospital management, you would be better off to direct your complaints to the POTUS. Why? Because at his lawful direction in 2010 he required Medicare to REDUCE the amount of payment to hospitals and doctors. Those reimbursements will drop once more with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act on 1/1/2014.

There is currently an active thread here on TOTV griping about the cost of greens fees and other fees within TV..and how things cost more than they used to. Virtually EVERYTHING costs more than it used to. A gallon of milk, a gallon of gas, a can of beans..a knee replacement, a heart stent and so on. NOTHING costs less.

I have mentioned this multiple times here, and nobody wants to listen, but the problem at TVRH is that it receives fully 88% of it's revenue from Medicare. While the price of virtually everything is rising, the hospital is being forced to get paid less and less for the many different services it must perform in it's hospital. So exactly how do they expand their number of beds, expand their slate of doctors, nurses and other staff while they are forced to take less and less to do the same amount of work? Costs didn't go down. The cost of doing business didn't go down, but the patient load is going up and reimbursements are going down.

Last year it was said that there would be no COLA increase for SS. Seniors cried bloody murder! How would you like to get 30% less than you did? Well, that's what your local hospital is trying to figure out because that's what's been happening to them! But to listen here they are just a bunch of incompetent mangers and lazy staff who don't care about their patients! Get real! The problem is that they have to do more & more with less and less. Take a 30% cut on YOUR income and then see how you make up the difference.

And..it's not going to get better as long as the senior population here continues to increase and the Medicare reimbursements continue to get lowered. THAT is the problem. Not incompetent or uncaring service from the hospital.

This really is the crux of the problem (low medicare reimbursements being the bulk of revenue to TVRH, while costs keep going up and medicare reimbursements are being cut even more).

If not for the 500+ volunteers doing what would be paid work elsewhere, the hospital couldn't afford to keep the doors open with the lights on.

[StarbuckSammy]

Sitting in an ER waiting room for 3-12 hours is unacceptable. If this is occurring in The Villages Hospital then something must change.
Over the last 2 years, I have taken my elderly parents to the ER's located in a large metro city hospital....the waiting time..in the waiting area...was from 5 minutes to 15 minutes. This was on 5 separate occasions. One of the hospitals was located in city and the two others were in the suburbs.
Depending on The Villages Hospital's ER scares me.

[Mack184]

Originally Posted by StarbuckSammy

Sitting in an ER waiting room for 3-12 hours is unacceptable. If this is occurring in The Villages Hospital then something must change.
Over the last 2 years, I have taken my elderly parents to the ER's located in a large metro city hospital....the waiting time..in the waiting area...was from 5 minutes to 15 minutes. This was on 5 separate occasions. One of the hospitals was located in city and the two others were in the suburbs.
Depending on The Villages Hospital's ER scares me.

Before we came here my wife was at a major Baltimore hospital. ER waits averaged well over 16 hours and in many cases could run from 24-40 hours. Waiting 3.5 hours here is NOTHING. I don't know where you found your 5 minute wait but it's NOT the norm. And if you think 3.5 hours is bad..then you're going to be VASTLY disappointed going forward.

[Mack184]

Originally Posted by ilovetv

This really is the crux of the problem (low medicare reimbursements being the bulk of revenue to TVRH, while costs keep going up and medicare reimbursements are being cut even more).

If not for the 500+ volunteers doing what would be paid work elsewhere, the hospital couldn't afford to keep the doors open with the lights on.

The volunteers do offer a great help to TVRH. And..if it wasn't for them, service would be even slower. Of course the volunteers cannot help/assist or provide medical services at any time.

[DianeM]

Maybe poor service is just a way to get us to die. This is very depressing to someone who hasn't even moved in yet.

[CFrance]

Originally Posted by DianeM

Maybe poor service is just a way to get us to die. This is very depressing to someone who hasn't even moved in yet.

Holy cow.

[queasy27]

It's not just Medicaid reimbursements, either. I have BCBS through my employer and they only paid $7,076 out of an $18,755 bill at TVRH.

At Leesburg hospital, they reimbursed a measly $1,345 on a $28,659 bill for a 4-day stay.

I have no idea why there was such a disparity in reimbursement percentages between the two hospitals, but I owed zero at TVRH and a $50 co-pay at Leesburg because I was admitted through the ER, so it's not like I'm personally making up the difference.

Who is making money? Hospitals and medical staff are getting squeezed to the breaking point. Various online articles put the profit margin for major insurance companies from around 4-8%, which is not exorbitant.

[DianeM]

Originally Posted by CFrance

Holy cow.

Sorry. I'm just in a crummy mood today and probably should not have written that.

[ilovetv]

Originally Posted by DianeM

Maybe poor service is just a way to get us to die. This is very depressing to someone who hasn't even moved in yet.

If I thought that a sinister, collective "somebody" running a hospital or treating patients wanted me to "just die", I certainly would not go there.

[maine04578]

I'm on Medicare and Blue Cross, but a hospital bill was sent to me for some reason (I don't usually see them), and I was stunned. My paper "johnny" was $65. Each pair of latex gloves in the OR was billed at $14. I could go on, but why bother? Recent coverage of outrageous hospital billing reveals that hospitals use a price list that has no relation to the actual cost of items they bill to patients/insurance companies.

[DianeM]

Originally Posted by ilovetv

If I thought that a sinister, collective "somebody" running a hospital or treating patients wanted me to "just die", I certainly would not go there.

OK OK - I admitted to just being in a crummy mood.