Doctor won't accept "liability'

[RCB]

The fine print

The fine print

I have recently filled out the paper work for a PT testing device. I filled out as much as I could and left the rest for
the dr. I was reading the "Physician Prescription Form" provided by QAS. There is some fine print just above where
the physician signs his name. I will paraphrase here, in short what they are asking the dr. to do is accept responsiblity for( read in "YOU ARE LIABLE FOR") for training ths pt. on this device. When I ask the QAS rep.
about this- how could my dr. sign in advance a document accepting respossiblity for training someone, when the dr. has no idea what the train is or the pt's expertise with said device. The QAS rep. dismissed my question as unworthy(don't you just love when customer service people act like your questions as stupid!) and said something like "we will cross
that bridge when we come to it". Well is has been a couple
of weeks so I called my dr. to see what the problem was.
The nurse said the dr. has concerns about training. He
couldn't sign the form because he had "concerns"- read in to
that "Liablity" if the training is done poorly. You know my dr. is not a lawyer, but he is not stupid either. I have worked in contract law and I can tell you nobody in their right mind signs a document that ask them to do some action in advance, without knowing what that action is.
If anybody here would, I got a bridge that I'm selling options on.
In short, read the fine print and ask yourself if you would
want to be liable for doing something you know nothing about.
My dr. and his staff are all excellant and I have no problems
with their care. Home testing will eliminate a 3 hour test and sticks in my arm(after 45 years they have had enough)
so I am ready to join the future.

We will see how they work it out and I'll let you know.

 

[catwoman]

RCB:

I have a ProTime 3. The training consisted of a video and some written material I had to see/read before I tackled the machine. I was asked to try one test before the training nurse walked me through it on the phone. Even though my RN sister & her dtr, a nursing student, had never used a CoaguCheck, ProTime 3 or similar machine, I had them work with me the first time. Then I had to do it with the training nurse on the phone. THEN I had to take the unit w/ me to the PCP's office to demonstrate that I was able to test myself. My PCP had to certify that I successfully completed a test in his office. His office then faxed a signed document to QAS.

Maybe my PCP had known me long enough to feel comfortable w/ me doing my own INR tests. I've gone to him for almost 20 years.

 

[RCB]

Point of law

Point of law

What I was addressing was not the training or any of other
the things you outlined. My posted concerned the statement( I am going to quote QAC word for word):
"I will insure the patient receives appropriate training on the monitoring device."

Now if you parse this sentence very carefully the dr. (I) is ask to guarantee the appropriate( care to define "appropriate' in medical liability law) on the monitoring device( a device a doctor has not even seen or
heard of yet). How can he do this in advance- which is what this form ask him to do.

Quetlin, you said if you goof-up on the machine you
have no right to sue-is that your personal opinion or is
that a legal opinion?

I know one thing: next to disease the thing that drs.
hate the most is medical malpractice suits. It has driven some drs.(Ob-Gyn) from this state. The dr. who doesn't think of the legal liability in his practice- put his future and his family's future at peril.
I would be curious what Marty ( our resident radiologist)
has to say about the above sentence?
I have been with my card. for 22 years, on medicare and
have a very complicated medical history. What he gets for his time with me from Medicare is almost charity. He normally gets 3 or 4 times as much with private insurance.
Is it any wonder he is cautious?

 

[Marty]

Training?

Training?

When I ordered my Coaguchek 5 years ago Roche had it delivered by a lab tech on a Sunday afternoon who spent 4 hours training me and then gave me a test! Did I need this training? An emphatic Yes! At that time a few weeks after surgery I found my INR was 5.5. All this, I found out later cost Roche about $400. They have now farmed this out to a testing group and the patient pays them himself before he gets the monitor.I admire the Protime people who learn it from a video and over the phone. Recently I trained an orthopedic doctor who bought a Coaguchek S to use on his wife who just had AVR. Since he was a doctor , Roche would sell him a machine without the training perhaps for office use but the cardio referred him to me if he had questions.. I spent all one Saturday afternoon with this physician and his wife who was still a little shaky.. Later I received several phone calls with questions from him. I think some training is necessary to get confident with these monitors. I'll be interested to hear what some others like Rob and Dick Vincent might say.

 

[RCB]

Katie- I agree

Katie- I agree

I guess what I am trying to say is, that according to the wording on the form, I could understand why a dr. would
not want to sign it. I just wanted to point out the other side
of the story. The QAS form seems to put the cart before the horse. I think if drs. were better educated about the program before they were asked to sign the form, this concern would not be a problem. QAS should take the lead
and present the training program to the dr., so the dr. could
make a judgement about it and about QAS. That way a dr. would
be making an informed decision- not just blindly signing a
form.

Am I being clear about this?

 

[Ross]

RCB are you over here nit picking again?

My conclusion is, no matter what the form says, Doctors will do or say anything to avoid implicating themselves in any way for any thing. My Cardio, I presented him all the papers and he pretended he knew nothing about home testing or fingerstick testing for that matter. Strange, their own Coumadin Clinic does fingerstick testing. Even more strange, on this visit on Wednesday, he admitted to me that there are a few people he has who home test. Am I the only one seeing a trend here?

 

[RCB]

Did you get up that early just to tell me that!

Did you get up that early just to tell me that!

YES!
I could have told you that at a more civil hour of the day

 

[Brian]

I gotta be extremely fortunate

I gotta be extremely fortunate

Gee, now do I ever feel bad about all of the hassles that some of you have been going through just trying to convince your doctors and cardiologists that these units would be a good thing...
This morning I bit the bullet..and I hope it doesn't effect my INR..all the lead and everything..LOL..but I decided to go for it and order a CoaguChek S. It seems that it is the only one that easily attainable for me up here in Canada and also a good quality unit. I had been given the email addy and 1-800 number for the company in Canada that handles and sells them from QAS. Trying to order one from the States was going to be too much hassle..you know the brick wall that is 100 ft tall and all...., so I talked to the nice gal at Roche. She told me that I too would need a prescription from my doctor or cardiologist..I thought to myself...NO..I DON'T WANT TO GO THERE and fight an up hill battle. So I thought, what the heck, I'll never know unless I try. So I called into the hospital, talked with the cardiac nurse who has been involved with my case for a number of years. I explained to her what my concerns are when I go back to work and possibly might not be able to get in for my regular blood test. She was right on board with me and had no problems at all going and finding the Cardiologist immediately and getting him to fax me a prescription. After I hung up the phone, the faxed prescription came to me in about 5 minutes..done deal!!
I only wish that your doctors would only consider that this will be a good thing and that it will only make your health better, heck get them to sign a personal release form to yourselves regarding the home testing kits..what ever works. I have no intention of cutting out the lab's duties, but do want a back up plan..it's my life and my health and by God I plan on looking out for it. I've been through too much already for some little glitch to mess things up...Heck maybe I should just get you all to switch to my Doctors up here...LOL..they truly are fantastic people.

I just wanted to give you all a little ray of hope instead of gloom and doom..keep trying, it's the only way it will happen. Sooner or later they might just get tired of being asked and cave in and give you the prescription..just remember they are the professionals and maybe there is more to their reasoning that they aren't telling you..one never knows.

Take care people and keep smiling , you all have come through way too much to let this get you down,

Brian