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Old 04-12-2019, 02:09 PM
 
Location: DFW
1,074 posts, read 633,633 times
Reputation: 1947

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Quote:
Originally Posted by texan2yankee View Post
I had my eyes tested today, as I have done every year since I was 6 years old, because I wear corrective lenses. the new ophthalmologist told me I didn't need a new script as my eyesight didn't change from last year, but he noticed I had "optic nerve cupping" and needed a glaucoma test. He said I may have cataracts and should consider surgery which was, surprise, his surgical specialty. I was told I also had floaters in my eyes that needed laser surgery and his good friend, surprise, did that surgery.

I am 60, and have no health issues or issues with my eyesight that affect my daily activities other than being near sighted. I took the glaucoma test reluctantly, which was negative, and told him before the test I knew I didn't have glaucoma because no other eye doctor had ever mentioned that I had even a hint of glaucoma! I declined his other suggestions.

medical providers used to care about patients. No longer. I don't trust a single one of my providers, dentist, PCP, or eye doctor, to care anything about me. they only seem to care about how much they can bilk the insurance company for useless BS.

If you have a doctor that cares about your health and not only his/her pocketbook, I envy you. I haven't had one for 12 years.
I skimmed through posts and a little shocked that I did not see one which alluded to the real issue here.
There are still good doctors out there, though there are also crooks- same as any profession.
The issue with what you and other posters are talking about is this: the health insurance sector runs everything. Health insurance has a team of usually nurses, but perhaps the occasional doctor, who say "yay" or "nay" . There are huge schedules of treatments that are ok'd- like a spreadsheet with algorithms, not taking into account the human element. The doctors are absolutely handcuffed to these restrictions. Those who really want to help people and practice medicine would love to have a situation where they don't accept insurance for that reason, but how many people can go to a doctor and pay out of pocket??
It's a terrible system, and not doctors' fault most of the time.

 
Old 04-12-2019, 02:16 PM
 
12,022 posts, read 11,483,889 times
Reputation: 11136
Quote:
Originally Posted by texan2yankee View Post
I had my eyes tested today, as I have done every year since I was 6 years old, because I wear corrective lenses. the new ophthalmologist told me I didn't need a new script as my eyesight didn't change from last year, but he noticed I had "optic nerve cupping" and needed a glaucoma test. He said I may have cataracts and should consider surgery which was, surprise, his surgical specialty. I was told I also had floaters in my eyes that needed laser surgery and his good friend, surprise, did that surgery.

I am 60, and have no health issues or issues with my eyesight that affect my daily activities other than being near sighted. I took the glaucoma test reluctantly, which was negative, and told him before the test I knew I didn't have glaucoma because no other eye doctor had ever mentioned that I had even a hint of glaucoma! I declined his other suggestions.

medical providers used to care about patients. No longer. I don't trust a single one of my providers, dentist, PCP, or eye doctor, to care anything about me. they only seem to care about how much they can bilk the insurance company for useless BS.

If you have a doctor that cares about your health and not only his/her pocketbook, I envy you. I haven't had one for 12 years.
You can go to an optometrist and order those tests to get an independent opinion. An optometrist won't be doing procedures or prescribing medications. Until you have a second opinion, you only have suspicions.
 
Old 04-12-2019, 02:22 PM
 
Location: Southern California
29,267 posts, read 16,577,414 times
Reputation: 18901
Quote:
Originally Posted by MarshaBrady1968 View Post
I skimmed through posts and a little shocked that I did not see one which alluded to the real issue here.
There are still good doctors out there, though there are also crooks- same as any profession.
The issue with what you and other posters are talking about is this: the health insurance sector runs everything. Health insurance has a team of usually nurses, but perhaps the occasional doctor, who say "yay" or "nay" . There are huge schedules of treatments that are ok'd- like a spreadsheet with algorithms, not taking into account the human element. The doctors are absolutely handcuffed to these restrictions. Those who really want to help people and practice medicine would love to have a situation where they don't accept insurance for that reason, but how many people can go to a doctor and pay out of pocket??
It's a terrible system, and not doctors' fault most of the time.
I don't think anyone has really said "all doctors are terrible"... and I went into pretty much in #18 above and how I've grown up and compare docs of the older days with those of today.

One of the best MD's in my life, was a D.O. who worked into his 90's on a semi retired basis. He knew so much and worked wonders on my back for over 30 yrs and even got to the root of the thyroid help I needed and so many doctors failed me for 10 yrs....they don't make them like him anymore. Never even had a computer in his office. And there is still a dermatologist working in his early 90's in our town and when I NEED to go to one, it's him. Has no computers in his office either.

Many call it progress with all the technology and all that costs LOTS OF $$$$ for these doctors.

Last edited by jaminhealth; 04-12-2019 at 03:19 PM..
 
Old 04-12-2019, 03:11 PM
 
Location: colorado springs, CO
9,512 posts, read 6,025,207 times
Reputation: 28830
I understand completely. I don’t know how people who haven’t worked in the medical community since the early 1990s, like I have; even go about finding a doctor they can trust.

I base a lot of my decisions on my own experience with working with them in the hospitals. Do you know any nurses who work in acute care facilities? Ask a nurse! We have categories of doctors who we:

-Hate ... but have to admit that they have awesome clinical skills.

-Love to have at the nurses station ... but wouldn’t let them touch our kids with a 10 foot pole.

-Love the Doctor ... but know that a person could die before their office staff got around to anything.

-Can admit that they are the best one for the job ... as long as you are unconscious.

-Know as the Renegades ... When rational docs say no way; these guys will save the day.

And etc ... I worked in Surgical/Trauma & we used to talk about; “If your kid got ran over; who do you hope would be on call?” You’d probably be surprised at our answers; things that are red flags for prospective patients are rarely applicable in real life.

Online reviews are difficult because some people are in a no-win situation & there is no way to make them happy.
 
Old 04-12-2019, 03:15 PM
 
44 posts, read 39,344 times
Reputation: 174
If you distrust doctors, don’t go to them. Good luck.
 
Old 04-12-2019, 03:25 PM
 
Location: colorado springs, CO
9,512 posts, read 6,025,207 times
Reputation: 28830
Quote:
Originally Posted by MarshaBrady1968 View Post
I skimmed through posts and a little shocked that I did not see one which alluded to the real issue here.
There are still good doctors out there, though there are also crooks- same as any profession.
The issue with what you and other posters are talking about is this: the health insurance sector runs everything. Health insurance has a team of usually nurses, but perhaps the occasional doctor, who say "yay" or "nay" . There are huge schedules of treatments that are ok'd- like a spreadsheet with algorithms, not taking into account the human element. The doctors are absolutely handcuffed to these restrictions. Those who really want to help people and practice medicine would love to have a situation where they don't accept insurance for that reason, but how many people can go to a doctor and pay out of pocket??
It's a terrible system, and not doctors' fault most of the time.
That’s why I like the Dinosaurs; old & cranky! I like the guys who aren’t intimidated by insurance companies & experienced enough to find the loopholes. Younger doctors are too eager to please on compliance issues & are more worried about “their numbers” than they are the individual patients.
 
Old 04-12-2019, 03:44 PM
 
Location: SW Florida
14,826 posts, read 11,967,559 times
Reputation: 24594
Quote:
Originally Posted by guidoLaMoto View Post
Exactly my experience, too. Since retiring and moving to WI, I've been in contact with 4 PCPs, between myself, my wife and my uncle,-- only one of them knows (maybe) what he's doing. The other three were practicing by the cook book-- You may as well just use The Web for your medical care. Those three were more worried about getting all the blanks filled in on the computer program than to listening to what the pts (we) were saying.


In the old "fee for service" system, a doc made his money by how many times he saw you and what procedures he could do to you. Now, they're all working on salary for "The Group" (because so much paper work has been mandated by Obummercare that only a larger group can afford to get it done). They still have their quota of procedures to do but here's no incentive to "follow up" for the PCPs.


In the specific problem of Opthamology: they get a bundle for doing the relatively simple cataract surgery and there's not that many other problems that commonly need fixing....About 20 y/a in Chicago, there was a large Opth. Group that advertised they would send a limo out to get you for an exam no matter where you lived in the 3000 sq mi Chicagoland area...They got busted big time for Medicare fraud after a few yrs...I think their motto was "If you got eyes, you need surgery."


In regards cataracts specifically: if you can read a newspaper, you don't need surgery. Nothing is lost by waiting for cataracts to get worse. The surgery is the same whether you have a little one off to the side of the line of sight, or if it's huge and you're practically blind. If you can see well enough for your everyday activities, it's reasonable to wait.


In regards glaucoma-- it can come up more or less suddenly and should be periodically checked as we age. "Cupping" is seen more often in glaucoma, but can be just a variation of normal. Glaucoma is still the leading cause of blindness and that's a shame because it's usually easily (although sometimes expensively) treated with drops when you catch it in time.
I always thought the "test for glaucoma", the screening test, anyway was an Intraocular pressure check on each eye, done by an eyecare professional at the time of a routine eye exam. I also thought this check was recommended as part of a yearly eyr exam for people over a specific age ( ? 60, 65).
 
Old 04-12-2019, 04:00 PM
 
2,437 posts, read 2,720,335 times
Reputation: 4312
Quote:
Originally Posted by Travelassie View Post
I always thought the "test for glaucoma", the screening test, anyway was an Intraocular pressure check on each eye, done by an eyecare professional at the time of a routine eye exam. I also thought this check was recommended as part of a yearly eyr exam for people over a specific age ( ? 60, 65).
There are actually several different tests used to test for and diagnosis glaucoma. The "first step" test is the pressure test.
 
Old 04-12-2019, 06:49 PM
 
15,154 posts, read 7,179,655 times
Reputation: 19039
Quote:
Originally Posted by texan2yankee View Post
I had my eyes tested today, as I have done every year since I was 6 years old, because I wear corrective lenses. the new ophthalmologist told me I didn't need a new script as my eyesight didn't change from last year, but he noticed I had "optic nerve cupping" and needed a glaucoma test. He said I may have cataracts and should consider surgery which was, surprise, his surgical specialty. I was told I also had floaters in my eyes that needed laser surgery and his good friend, surprise, did that surgery.

I am 60, and have no health issues or issues with my eyesight that affect my daily activities other than being near sighted. I took the glaucoma test reluctantly, which was negative, and told him before the test I knew I didn't have glaucoma because no other eye doctor had ever mentioned that I had even a hint of glaucoma! I declined his other suggestions.

medical providers used to care about patients. No longer. I don't trust a single one of my providers, dentist, PCP, or eye doctor, to care anything about me. they only seem to care about how much they can bilk the insurance company for useless BS.

If you have a doctor that cares about your health and not only his/her pocketbook, I envy you. I haven't had one for 12 years.
You should get a glaucoma test every year or two. Glaucoma sneaks up on you, and will make you blind before you realize what's happening. The damage is irreversible. Same thing with macular degeneration, which eye doctors should test for. Having said that, your eye doctor seems overeager to perform procedures.

Quote:
Originally Posted by mitchmiller9 View Post
I am also a Dr/Dentist skeptic.

Optometrist: I wear gas permeable contacts. The Optometrist will always say they need to be replaced at least every two years. In all fairness, perhaps he's getting the information from the manufacturer. At any rate, I've been wearing the same pair of gas perms now for twenty (20) years. Yes, they may have marks on them not visible to the naked eye, but they work just fine for me.

There are other stories, but those are the three most egregious.
20 years with the same pair of gas permeable contacts? That's just plain stupid. I hope you at least follow a strict cleaning schedule, and aren't just rinsing with tap water. Far too easy to have something go wrong with them. A quick check of studies published by the National Institutes of Health shows average life is less than a year.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Arya Stark View Post
Right on ! There is no point in health insurance really. It just provides a "deep pocket" for the corrupt medical industry. We are on our own.
Says the person who has never had cancer. In 2015, my medical costs for cancer treatment were $200,000. Without insurance, I would be bankrupt.
 
Old 04-12-2019, 06:59 PM
 
3,211 posts, read 2,948,114 times
Reputation: 14632
Quote:
Originally Posted by texan2yankee View Post
I had my eyes tested today, as I have done every year since I was 6 years old, because I wear corrective lenses. the new ophthalmologist told me I didn't need a new script as my eyesight didn't change from last year, but he noticed I had "optic nerve cupping" and needed a glaucoma test. He said I may have cataracts and should consider surgery which was, surprise, his surgical specialty. I was told I also had floaters in my eyes that needed laser surgery and his good friend, surprise, did that surgery.

I am 60, and have no health issues or issues with my eyesight that affect my daily activities other than being near sighted. I took the glaucoma test reluctantly, which was negative, and told him before the test I knew I didn't have glaucoma because no other eye doctor had ever mentioned that I had even a hint of glaucoma! I declined his other suggestions.

medical providers used to care about patients. No longer. I don't trust a single one of my providers, dentist, PCP, or eye doctor, to care anything about me. they only seem to care about how much they can bilk the insurance company for useless BS.

If you have a doctor that cares about your health and not only his/her pocketbook, I envy you. I haven't had one for 12 years.
So, you prefer to diagnose yourself then? Sounds risky to me. I prefer to leave my health to the experts, and, yes, they are the experts.

Some people seem to think they don't need someone who has a medical education to diagnose and treat their illnesses, which makes me believe that some people have no idea what is even involved in getting a medical degree, which makes me believe it's pointless to argue with them.
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