How twitter helped a technology consultant escape from an evil hospital • Hacker News Board

Re: How twitter helped a technology consultant escape from an evil hospital

#11

Post by gruseom » Sun, Sep 13, 2009, 6:06 PM UTC

wheaties wrote: post #7

gruseom wrote: post #2

That is a harrowing story. If it's half true, the hospital really is evil.

Doubt the doctors are the evil ones. If they're using an outdated procedure it means they haven't been kept up to date on the latest treatment protocols. The hospital beaurocrats trying to keep their accredation and earn big bucks, those are the evail ones.

It's interesting that you try to absolve the doctors by rendering them passive ("they haven't been kept up to date" - whose responsibility is that? and how did they react when presented with correct information?). Most evil happens by default. The same is no doubt the case with the hospital administrators.

The interesting characters in the story (again, assuming this is all true) are the sympathetic subordinates - nurses and so on - who supplied information about what was really going on.

Re: How twitter helped a technology consultant escape from an evil hospital

#12

Post by kmavm » Sun, Sep 13, 2009, 6:08 PM UTC

fnid wrote: post #6

It never occurred to me that carrying high-level heath insurance would mark me as a candidate for unnecessary surgery. Perhaps this is exactly why health care costs have gone up so dramatically. We have insurance, so the doctors take advantage of it -- needlessly. We very well could be spending a lot less money for the same amount of health care. I think the solution to the health care problem is for someone to start…

This is essentially the thesis of Arnold Kling's "Crisis of Abundance":

http://www.amazon.com/Crisis-Abundance-Rethinking-Health-Car...

Except for a few blockbuster interventions (antibiotics for bacterial infection, orthopedics, reading glasses), the expected return of many health care interventions is negative; they cost so much, and have the potential to do so much harm, for such uncertain good, that we're better off avoiding them. The only reason individual consumers subject themselves to so many negative-expected-value treatments is that they do not bear their full costs, sharing the financial part of them with their insurers.

Re: How twitter helped a technology consultant escape from an evil hospital

#13

Post by jimmybot » Sun, Sep 13, 2009, 6:13 PM UTC

gruseom wrote: post #5

durana wrote: post #4

The story really doesn't involve Twitter much at all.

But that's not true. It describes her as using Twitter throughout the ordeal. Most importantly, it was through Twitter that she met the ethical neurosurgeon who saved her. Incidentally, her title references "social media" rather than Twitter, which I think is right; it's not hard to imagine, say, Facebook playing the same role. What's relevant is that she got word of her plight out to a network of people in a way tha…

Are people that responsive on Facebook?

Re: How twitter helped a technology consultant escape from an evil hospital

#14

Post by silencio » Sun, Sep 13, 2009, 6:20 PM UTC

jimmybot wrote: post #13

gruseom wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But that's not true. It describes her as using Twitter throughout the ordeal. Most importantly, it was through Twitter that she met the ethical neurosurgeon who saved her. Incidentally, her title references "social media" rather than Twitter, which I think is right; it's not hard to imagine, say, Facebook playing the same role. What's relevant is that she got word of her plight out to a network of people in a way tha…

Are people that responsive on Facebook?

Perhaps the network doesn't matter as much as who you are connected with and how much they want to help. Those girls that updated their Facebook status instead of calling local emergency services after being stuck in a storm drain eventually got out because a friend called for them (see http://www.switched.com/2009/09/08/endangered-pre-teens-upda...). I'm sure there's plenty of similar stories out there.

Re: How twitter helped a technology consultant escape from an evil hospital

#15

Post by gruseom » Sun, Sep 13, 2009, 6:24 PM UTC

DannoHung wrote: post #10

And the ultimate lesson of all of this: If your friend jumps off a bridge, are you going to jump off of a bridge too?

Although your comment looks like a vacuous redditesque one-liner, I'll respond: I've jumped from similar heights under similar circumstances, i.e. a spot favored by locals, surrounded by people happily jumping and swimming. It's only in hindsight that what she did was an obviously bad move, and even then it sounds like a slightly different angle would have made it harmless.

This aspect is hardly "the ultimate lesson of all this": if the post were merely about someone who jumped into a pond when they shouldn't have, no one would be discussing it.

Re: How twitter helped a technology consultant escape from an evil hospital

#16

Post by jimmybot » Sun, Sep 13, 2009, 6:49 PM UTC

gruseom wrote: post #15

DannoHung wrote: post #10

And the ultimate lesson of all of this: If your friend jumps off a bridge, are you going to jump off of a bridge too?

Although your comment looks like a vacuous redditesque one-liner, I'll respond: I've jumped from similar heights under similar circumstances, i.e. a spot favored by locals, surrounded by people happily jumping and swimming. It's only in hindsight that what she did was an obviously bad move, and even then it sounds like a slightly different angle would have made it harmless. This aspect is hardly "the ultimate lesson…

Three other people were injured that day from jumping, and the ambulance that was called wasn't even called for the heroine of our story. I don't know what the denominator is, but it doesn't sound good.

I do agree though, that jumping or not wasn't the main issue here.

Re: How twitter helped a technology consultant escape from an evil hospital

#17

Post by cschep » Sun, Sep 13, 2009, 7:00 PM UTC

jimmybot wrote: post #13

gruseom wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But that's not true. It describes her as using Twitter throughout the ordeal. Most importantly, it was through Twitter that she met the ethical neurosurgeon who saved her. Incidentally, her title references "social media" rather than Twitter, which I think is right; it's not hard to imagine, say, Facebook playing the same role. What's relevant is that she got word of her plight out to a network of people in a way tha…

Are people that responsive on Facebook?

Absolutely. I see people basically chatting in comments on status updates. I think the problem would be more about spreading the story quickly. Twitter doesn't have the "friend" requirement, ultimately making it the better tool(?) here.

Re: How twitter helped a technology consultant escape from an evil hospital

#18

Post by cwan » Sun, Sep 13, 2009, 7:07 PM UTC

fnid wrote: post #6

It never occurred to me that carrying high-level heath insurance would mark me as a candidate for unnecessary surgery. Perhaps this is exactly why health care costs have gone up so dramatically. We have insurance, so the doctors take advantage of it -- needlessly. We very well could be spending a lot less money for the same amount of health care. I think the solution to the health care problem is for someone to start…

The remedy isn't about saying no, the remedy is sunlight and transparency. There should be consequences to overbilling, unnecessary treatments. There are after all a great deal of medical treatments and tests that are necessary and should be done but because of third party payers, it creates perverse incentives and discourages competition and accountability which is what we really need.

Re: How twitter helped a technology consultant escape from an evil hospital

#19

Post by andreyf » Sun, Sep 13, 2009, 7:09 PM UTC

fnid wrote: post #8

wheaties wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doubt the doctors are the evil ones. If they're using an outdated procedure it means they haven't been kept up to date on the latest treatment protocols. The hospital beaurocrats trying to keep their accredation and earn big bucks, those are the evail ones.

They are evil because they were thinking of themselves before the patient and using lies to intimidate her into agreeing with them -- when they were wrong. That's evil. Unfortunately, it's a story repeated across the nation every day.

No accreditation means no funding, means no hospital, means no job. So by your definition, the only way doctors can remain doctors at said hospital is by being evil. Hence, I would blame the short-sighedness of whoever created and approved for the rules of accreditation for hospitals, not the people at the whims of those rules.

Re: How twitter helped a technology consultant escape from an evil hospital

#20

Post by andreyf » Sun, Sep 13, 2009, 7:14 PM UTC

Oi, that sure was lengthy. Summary: Some hospital in Pennsylvania tries to make money by doing unnecessary procedures on patients with good health insurance and went to great lengths to keep this lady from seeking a second opinion regarding her injury.

IMO, this is the incentive of nearly all doctors in America - the dentists I've had span the entire spectrum of opinions about my wisdom teeth. From "if we don't take them out, you can die from a gum infection" to "do they hurt? no? do you eat meat? then you should keep them, they'll makes it easier to chew".