Dream Endings

 The voice that awoke me from last night's dreaming, not once, but twice, was my own. 

 The first time, I am advising those setting a quite fancy dinner table, for a formal event to which I was not invited.  The  family members were  evidently not including napkins because there were none they considered suitable. I told them  to go ahead and use the economy pack of paper napkins: put 2 of them at each place setting. They're better than nothing.

  The second time I woke to my own voice, my words were, "Well, because it's my dream."  I assume I must have encountered some opposition to the advice I'd given earlier.

I didn't know that I ever talked in my sleep, but I woke to my own spoken words.

Honest Health (Revisited)

 I'd received  telephone call wanting to confirm my relationship with my primary care doctor, quickly mentioning her name 3 times. I tried to ask about the service he was representing, but he said he'd transfer me to another line, which went dead. Caller ID supplied the name Prospero Crespo. 

I suspected the call was a scam, and emailed my primary's office. I received  a response saying it was not a scam, that all on  Medicare would receive a letter confirming a new pilot program,  Medicare's ACO Reach Program---"to improve health care  and better meet individual health needs." 

I received such letter from Medicare a few days later. The letter contained a number to call for any questions. I called it, asked about the call I'd received, supplied the name on Caller ID. The rep said he had not heard of Prospero.

crespo.

Honest Health letter received

 Today, June 1, the U. S. Mail brought me the letter from Albany Med Health System, Honest Health, CMS, Honest ACO of New York LLC in Nashville, TN.

A yellow banner across the top of the page reads:  NOTIFICATION ONLY." I wonder why that is there, what could it mean?  That I am being informed, but not to have any expectations to use any of what I'm reading?  

    I'm sure there is a reason for why it's headed only a notification. I just don't know what it is. 

     Just 3 days ago, I asked if  a script for a procedure from an Albany Med. participating doctor's office could be sent to Samaritan prior to my office visit.  I was told that it would be difficult if not impossible, and anyway it would take such a long time to be received that it would not be in time for my office visit, which would not be of any value without the results from the script. "We are in 2 different systems, you know."

I meekly accepted her explanation, though I know my primary care doctor is in the Albany Med system and she has been sending scripts to Samaritan for years. 

When Prospero Crespo called me last week, apparently to advise of what is in this letter, I suspected it was a scam. His accent was difficult enough to understand, but he could not understand me at all, leaving me on line, which led nowhere.  

  I advised my primary care office, that the caller kept repeating the doctor's name.The office assured me that Honest Health was legitimate. 

If I were of a critical nature, I would question the choice of name---what the heck is honest health? Opposed to dishonest health? Bad enough there is already an Honest Weight.  

  The program's  purpose is to improve my health care experience and better meet my individual needs. The emphasis is on coordination. Unfortunately, many of the doctors I see are too busy to do more than barely coordinate what they are reading on the computer with the patient in front of them---all in the 15 minutes allotted for the office visit. 

But I remain optimistic---the letter is so detailed as to help it can offer. I'm hopeful that adding another layer to the delivery of health care services can only improve things. HONESTLY.

  

A Day in My So-Called Life

 Ah, the travails of being. 

   My car has been in the shop for 3 days.   I was told I would be called when it was ready, but with the weekend coming, I made the call. I was "just about" to be called. The car is ready. At home, reviewing the quite hefty charge, I see a "Credit Card Fee" for $32.77. No big deal, I guess, but if I'd known there was such a fee, I would have written  a check. 

 The phone rings. The doctor will not be available for my scheduled 6-month appointment. But I can get an appointment a few days later if I go to a location other than where I was scheduled. She tells me it will be in Malta. I decline. I recall driving a friend from Amsterdam to her home in Gansevoort, through 5 separate Traffic Circles in the Malta area.  I'll reschedule for more familiar territory. 

   I drive to the store to replenish my pantry, and find that the car radio is not working. I find a secure place to pull over and read my manual.  I am very familiar with having to enter the Code to re-set the clock, having done it so frequently I know the code by heart,  but didn't realize  (or forgot) the car radio also needed the code. I enter the familiar code, press a few buttons, and drive to the store, with music  playing in the background.   

  I open the car trunk and take  the bag of returns to the Bottle Return Machine. It is closed, not accepting anything. So back into the trunk with the bag of cans. I finish shopping, mostly small items, and the check-out person asks if I would like a paper bag in addtion to my plastic shopping bag. I say yes. I don't want  to be dropping stuff on my way to my car. The price of  a paper bag, 5 cents I guess, is an insignificant amount; it just rankles for the way that it was assessed and that it is probably intended to last forever. .

I go to the mailbox to retrieve the mail, and find a bill from my fuel company that I should not owe. I pay all my bills, never even late, my credit rating is exemplary, but I do not intend to  pay what I don't owe. So that saga continues.

All the fabric of life. So sweet.

\ I just received 6:30 p.m a Message re my cancelled doctor's appointment which indicates "Cancel Reason: Patient"  No, I didn't cancel. THEY DID.  Also the tme allotted for that appointment and the future appointment is 15 Minutes. *****Are they not aware that HONEST HEALTH , the ACO REACH Model Pilot Program is working  with doctors to improve the delivery of high-quality COORDINATED health care.  Maybe adding a 16th minute to the visit?

Don't We All Want "Honest Health"?

 Yesterday I received a call, from Prospero Crespo, if you go by what Caller ID tells you. He spoke in such broken English I could not understand the reason for the call.  He mentioned my Primary Doctor's name 3 times in what turned out to be a short conversation. I asked him where he was calling from. He said something about a health service associated with mine. And then he told me to stay on the line while he transferred my call, and the line went dead. 

   I emailed my doctor's office re above, and received this response today. It's a PILOT PROGRAM, all for our own good. Thanks, Medicare, and associated Pilots,

for your concern. 

OK, I have read this explanation. "What's it good for?"  Any patient on Medicare will receive a call from this company, I am told. How does it change anything? The stated goal is for health care providers to work together to give you better care. Isn't that already supposed to be possible---in this time of easy transmission of data? Our "health care teams" can now share data and thus provide the "better, safer, and more coordinated care."  In reality, it seems your health care provider often looks at your "chart" for the first time at or just before your office visit. 

   Being somewhat cynical, I suspect maybe the takeaway, the  raison d'etre,  for the existence of such a pilot program, is found in the sentence, "You may save time, money, and frustration by avoiding repeated tests and appointments."  Is this where the pilot could be flying us?

The line forms here---or there.

 Even though you have an appointment at your doctor's or medical provider's office, you have to go though a process to gain entry to care. We know that is true. Some offices are busy, with patients awaiting their scheduled appointments. Other offices may have none or a few patients ahead of you in the office. 

Each office has its own procedure for getting the patient to their medical visit: (1)  Patient may  be able to go directly to the window or desk to sign in to verify their visit and be ushered to their appointment. (2) patient may be able to take a number from a dispenser, and then sit and wait to be called in. (3) Patient is greeted upon entry to the office and handed a number, no need to stand in line to get the number.

 I have been a patient with a a medical appointment many times, and so have spent many hours "waiting to be seen." Sometimes the wait is longer than we'd like, but we know there are lots of reasons, so we patiently sit and wait; we do have our phones. We all understand, no problem.

 However, there is one medical office where  I find "getting to the appointment window" to be quite offputting even though the wait may not be long. Here it is:

 Patient walks through the door on the side of the office. The customer service desk is along the front of  the room, with 3 or maybe 4  sign-in windows. There are signs placed near the seating and above the sign-in desk advising (or warning) incoming patients that they are to WAIT TO BE CALLED by standing in one of the lines.  Sometimes those check-in lines have quite a few patients ahead of you, other times, maybe none or a few.  Regardess, even if no one is in line, you are advised not to approach the desk UNTIL you are called. Those behind the desk often tend to be busy with paperwork or other office tasks.  Ironically enough, that office is a cardiology office. 

   

Superscript---lets you pay in advance for your medical treatment

 Just received notice from yet another medical office:  New Superscript will tell you what you owe BEFORE your appointment, and lets you pay in advance. So if the medical treatment you receive isn't lifesaving, you can rest in peace knowing your bill is paid.