When will a Spine Hospital be built here in the U.S?

[JKDE302]

Or something similar to an american version of stenum...

Thoughts?

[laid up doc]

can't speak for cervical pts, but going in for lumbar surgery at a hospital w/o solid general/vascular surgical backup available is scarier than hell. plus the nurses who would work there, in the US... gawd. one step above rehab nurses.

i don't like the idea of spine hospitals one bit, anywhere. some choose them for their own reasons, but i think it's something done to "please" the patients that doesn't make sense when one puts medical needs first.

[Vicki_in_Florida]

The US is so far down the list when it comes to healthcare, maybe when we are in last place someone will change the system.

[laid up doc]

Vicki,

the US healthcare system has its merits - spine care just isn't necessarily one of them. it isn't one of the "outcomes" that various groups has taken under its wing. in most areas of medicine, top US hospitals are still tops in the world. and in the end.... you are under the care of the doctor in front of you. i endeavor to represent my patients' interests to the very best of my ability - not all docs do.

i wouldn't be a patient in a "spine" hospital - your spine lives way too close to a lot of major structures. you want backup, period.

[annapurna]

There are a few spine centers in the US like Texas Back. I doubt that the current insurance situation will permit more than a very few, though. Stenum, ProSpine, the BetaKlinik (Zeeger's location last I checked), and others exist overseas because there's reasonable protection helping private clinics there get paid by the various insurance companies. Here, if the insurance company sets the rate for an ADR at that charged by "Joe's Vinyl Siding and ADR Surgeries," the top notch places are quickly going to go out of business by being paid less than it takes to do top quality work.

[Vicki_in_Florida]

LUD
After receiving an unnecessary complete hysterectomy at 37, 10 years of a deteriorating spine (probably from having zero hormones), having useless insurance and paying $40 grand to fix myself plus $100 each PT session, then there's a doctor I went to who was recommended in Suzanne Somers book to help replace those lost hormones (my last appointment was the day I went for my visit and yellow police tape was across the door as he was indicted with 28 charges for illegal Hgh distribution), I could go on with my list of my doctor experiences but I will just end by saying that I don't see the merit anymore.
My mom went to the Cleveland Clinic for years.
Same thing. She used to cry when we left there. She always felt like they didn't care.
Both of our experiences have left me sour on US docs and facilities.
If you can pay, that's all that matters.

[MeggieLynn]

Vicky,

I'm with you, except my main gripe is w/the pain management doctors. They seem to really know how to take advantage of the system and the patient - many unethical ones out there. I feel bad for the primary care MD's who really carry a big load and only have about 15-20 min allotted to spend w/each patient. What can they do when someone like me, a near one woman freak show, walks in the door. I get farmed out to all the specialists for sleep, endocrine, pain, ortho, etc - Not a terribly efficient system, but I'm basically happy w/the docs I have now. It took me along time to find them. I'd also be uncomfortable with having surgery in a place that just does spines, with too many things that could go wrong.

[laid up doc]

Vicki,

Just b/c a doc works at a big name place, doesn't mean they're the best... at teaching hospitals you often get farmed out to residents/fellows.

My best advice to people is to be your own advocate... ask lots of questions, change doctors if need be, and inform yourself as much as you can on your own health.

fwiw, FL and a few other states are havens for crappy pain docs, crooks who sell fake "cures" for all kinds of things, and various other folks who give the practice of medicine a bad name. the others that i know of are NV and AZ.... i guess they're going after the money too, lots of older folks? i dunno... but to cast the entire US healthcare system in a bad light is a big shortsighted. I can tell you that i don't get complaints that people aren't listened to, and part of my salary depends on it.

[Vicki_in_Florida]

I recognize that big name places don't mean anything, I've been to them and experienced this.

My GP actually jokes about a doctor graduating first in his class or last, they still end up being doctors.

[Tatonka_usn]

Originally Posted by Vicki_in_Florida

My GP actually jokes about a doctor graduating first in his class or last, they still end up being doctors.

Yup, a good friend of mine (a gifted cardiologist) used to joke that the most important equation in Med School was "P = MD" (where P stands for "passing")