Care Management - Essay Example

Running Head: CARE MANAGEMENT “Care Management” By Chandrakant Mallya Care Management ‘You have been let down,’- by the ‘don’t care’ attitude of the Care Management, Mrs. Violet James! Sorry! The importance of a health management institute such hospital/care management center is perhaps next to a temple/church. In the temple we pray for our soul, in these institutions, we pray for the recovery of the equipment that houses the soul-the human body! In these institutions, utmost transparency, honesty, and integrity are required.

These institutions are accountable for public scrutiny. One weak link takes away the strength of the entire chain. One wrong step can wipe out the goodwill earned for decades. In any social organization, the fixation of responsibility to take decisions is very important. Here you are dealing with human beings, not furniture! Veronica arranged to have the referral documentation completed and waited for a place for Mrs. James in good faith. But what happened? It is quite surprising that Veronica Gibbs, the Ward Manager was not aware of a particular procedural aspect that affected her and her patient.

The age difference and the merit of the case are later issues. The prime question is, why Veronica Gibbs was not taken into confidence, at least informed in advance, about the impending admission of a patient, on an out-of-turn basis, superseding the ‘seniority’ of Veronica Gibbs? Veronica arranged to have the referral documentation completed and waited for a place for her patient. CoffThe coffeeee house is not the place for Veronica to know, how she has been overruled. That too is a matter of chance that she came to know about it!

This lapse on the part of the authority that took the decision to admit a junior patient without the knowledge of Veronica Gibbs is regrettable and difficult to condone! Assuming for a while that the young patient required the treatment for a short duration (as compared to the assumed treatment of Mrs. Violet James for a longer duration) yet, the clandestine admission of the junior patient can not be justified. Mrs. James is bound to know about this development. Won’t she feel betrayed by Veronica Gibbs?

Even she too should have been taken into confidence, as to why a junior patient was considered for admission and the special reasons for it. All concerned would have been happy. Trust betrayed takes time to heal, at times, it may never heal at all. With this wrong advertisement, the goodwill of Care Management will suffer much. Without a doubt, the practice adopted by Care Management is wrong. Reflection on practice-similar incidences: Here are some excerpts from The Hippocratic Oath for medical practitioners: “I swear by Apollo, Æsculapius, Hygieia, and Panacea, and I take to witness all the gods, all the goddesses, to keep according to my ability and my judgment, the following Oath.

” “To consider dear to me as my parents him who taught me this art; to live in common with him and if necessary to share my goods with him.” If I keep this oath faithfully, may I enjoy my life and practice my art, respected by all men and in all times; but if I swerve from it or violate it, may the reverse be my lot.”(Original, translated from Greek. Wikipedia-The Free Encyclopedia-en.wikipedia.org) What is a sacred oath and what are the prevailing conditions in the so-called Care Management Centers/Hospitals?

I know a case where a rich patient was admitted to the hospital for kidney transplantation, getting preference in the matter related to the operation. The specialist doctors were at his beck and call in a Government Hospital (where treatment is free to one and all) and the poor patient had to wait for three months for his turn of operation. Similar was the case with a patient who was rushed to the hospital with stab injuries. Obviously, he had a fight somewhere. The doctor on emergency duty was having lunch with his colleagues in the lunchroom of the hospital.

On being informed about the emergency admission, he did arrive from the lunch room to examine the patient. On a cursory look at the patient, he left instructions with the nurse and returned to resume his lunch. He reportedly told his waiting colleagues there, “This is common here. These people fight and come to spoil our lunch. Let him bleed for some time. Nothing will happen to him for the next six hours at least!”Solution for such problems: The solution is within, not without. Ethical values must return.

Greed has to take the backseat. Regular sessions on moral counseling for fair medical practices need to be conducted for all the staff members, from the Ward Boys to the top Specialists. Unless the thought process of an individual changes, his action process can not change. We not only need better Doctors, but better human beings! -----------