Forget about fixing healthcare, let's fix the doctors first
Even the top medical centers in the country get crazy doctors on staff from time to time.
I am a patient at one of the top pain clinics in the US. Regretfully, the doctor who has been managing my case for the last several years had to move out of state due to family matters, so they hired a new doctor to replace him.
I doubt this doctor ever read my chart. Mind you, my chart fills over two feet of file space, so it is a bit intimidating, but I don't think he even opened the cover.
I am dying of a rare medical condition, and when reviewing this with him during our first meeting he was very dismissive. He kept asking if there had been any definitive tests proving the diagnosis and I kept explaining to him that no such test exists, but that two doctors at the Mass General, five doctors at the Mayo Clinic, as well as others at DMC, U of M, etc., were all certain of this diagnosis.
I then reviewed a recent MRI with him, explaining that while the radiologist report had somehow missed it, my neurologist had found a blockage in a major artery to the brain (one that has a twin, else I wouldn't be typing this). Again, he was dismissive of what I "said" my neurologist "found", could not be bothered to call the neurologist's office, in essence saying that if it wasn't in the radiologist's report, it must not exist.
Later on, I had my neurologist send him a letter confirming his finding. So at my second appointment with this new doctor (where I had to remind him that he had received this letter), he decided that he would have to order further tests to see who was right about the blockage, the radiologist or my neurologist. I have no problem with this except the blocked artery is in the back of my neck and the tests that he ordered were for a scan of the arteries in the front of my neck. Not only does this doctor not listen to me, he can't even be bothered to fully read a letter in front of him. (I didn't find out this error until I had my neurologist review the test orders prior to having them done.)
At that point I filed a detailed complaint with the pain clinic. Apparently I wasn't the only one, since this new doctor has suddenly left "to pursue other interests" after being there only six months.
What bothers me (other than this doctor being totally unqualified to be practicing medicine with living patients) is that when he was hired, the pain clinic listed a long list of his qualifications and past positions, making him sound like he was the greatest thing since penicillin. Assuming that he was actually let go, will they give a negative job reference when called, or will they white wash it for fear of being sued?
I know in other fields, where lives are not on the line, we often are not allowed to give negative referrals for this very reason. Many companies give no referrals at all because of this, causing their excellent workers to lose out because of fear of litigious poor workers.
You would think that in a case where someone's job performance affects the health and well-being - let alone the lives - of people, that a full and honest disclosure of past job performance would not only be expected, but should be made mandatory, what we need is a shield law so that companies can give honest appraisals of former employees past performance.