#94 - RE

The posts of people that I do not love are few and far between.  I think this is because the people that I do not like, I do not keep around me long enough to make much of an impression or bother me too much.  This is the truth about #94.  He was my sort of boss for just a little while.  Whenever I started practicing as a PT, I use to do contract work on the side.  I could pick and choose my patients, and the money was good for pretty easy work.  While doing this type of work, I met several therapists who did a really poor job because they had no one supervising them, and the different agencies were desparate for a therapist to fill the need.  I can honestly say without feeling boastful, that I have never treated a patient with anything but the utmost respect and provided the best quality of care that I possible can, no matter what the payor type, the patient diagnosis, or the setting of the care provided.  It has never been about the money for me, but about helping people.  This is why #94 really, really made me mad.  Mad enough to quit his job and basically tell him to shove it.  Once again, being outright mean is not easy for me, but when someone tries to tell me what to do for the wrong reason, it is much easier to be mean.  OK, enough vagueness (is this a word???) on with the story...

I was treating this elderly lady who had a total knee replacement.  She was the mother of a friend of a friend.  Anyway, the family was very involved in her care and was always present during therapy sessions and were willing to do anything that they could to help out.  This patient was progressing from her surgery and was needing less therapy.  Then she had a minor stroke and regressed in all of her gross motor skills.  In a nutshell she needed more therapy.  Prior to her stroke, I was in the process of seeing her once a week and planned to discharge her within the next 1-2 visits.  After her stroke, I re-assessed her status and since she had shown regression, I recommended to the family that she stay in therapy and her frequency be increased to three times a week.  They agreed with this assessment because again, they were willing to do anything to help their loved one.  I filed the appropriate paperwork, sent her doctor a note letting him know my plan, and set up her visits for the following week. 

Then came the phone call from #94 with a summons to his office.  Let me interject here that, #94 is not and never has been a medical professional in any sense of the word.  He is a business owner, period.  So, he calls me in and proceeded to chew me out.  The basis of this verbal beat down is that I was out of line changing this patient's plan of care without consulting him (#94).  I should not have talked to the family or the doctor without first consulting HIM.  He basically said in so many words, that this lady was probably going to die soon and he would be losing too much money if I continued to see her because she wasn't going to live long enough for them to make money on her case.

I tell you...I saw RED!!!!!!!!  Who is the h?*# does he think he is?  He wants me to make medical decisions based on his bottom line??????  Not only is this highly unethical, it is ILLEGAL!  Not to mention, what kind of person thinks like this???  What if said patient was his mother?  Anyway, I quit on the spot. (side note - the only job I have ever quit)  I don't think he thought I would given my normally passive personality.  Over the next few months I received several phone calls from him with offers of more money, better patients, less drive time etc. to let it blow over and come back to work for him.  He was not happy that I called the doctor and the family and told them why I was not going to be treating this patient anymore.  Yes, the real reason.  Was he out of his mind???  Obviously he had no clue who I was and what my personal ethics/morals are.

Now, I"ll be the first to admit, I am naive when it comes to this kind of stuff.  I am never going to be a ruthless business owner in the medical field.  I care too much about feelings, quality, and what is right to let my bottom line get in the way of what I know needs to be done.  I know there are plently of people out there who feel differently.  I know that as our grand old government works hard to make medical providers work harder for less pay, the people like #94 will emerge from under rocks and take over the medical system.  Good people will not be paid what they are worth and good quality care will not be rewarded.  I may never make a million on my business practice, but I will NEVER sell out like #94!