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Intake – American's largest psychiatric chain

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Re: Intake – American's largest psychiatric chain

#21

I should hope this comes as no surprise to anyone. Every single psychiatrist I've ever visited had the same policy, only their lock was medicine rather than a door (outpatient vs inpatient). I feel bad for the lady because she didn't know any better and joked about suicide, but shouldn't it be common sense you don't tell anyone about that--you don't even joke about it-- especially to a doctor with the power to commit…

> Every single psychiatrist I've ever visited had the same policy, only their lock was medicine rather than a door (outpatient vs inpatient).

I'm confused, are you complaining about psychiatrists forcing medication on people? I thought the entire point of seeing a psychiatrist was to get on medication...

Re: Intake – American's largest psychiatric chain

#22
post #14

"Current and former employees from at least 10 UHS hospitals in nine states said they were under pressure to fill beds by almost any method — which sometimes meant exaggerating people’s symptoms or twisting their words to make them seem suicidal — and to hold them until their insurance payments ran out." Don't worry, free-market ideologues will coolly tell you. Their logic will seem airtight: over time, if Intake's p…

You've introduced an ideological talking point in order to refute it, but that's the sort of tangent we ask people not to introduce into divisive threads, because they usually turn into generic arguments/flamewars that overwhelm the (far more interesting) specifics of a story.

Re: Intake – American's largest psychiatric chain

#23

> Lauren Singer, who worked for six months at the front desk of Colorado’s Highlands Behavioral, said people who were waiting in the lobby for an assessment would ask her what it would entail. “I would frequently get yelled at for overstepping my bounds and telling them too much about the evaluation process,” Singer said. A button behind the receptionist’s desk controlled the lock to the front door of the facility, a…

There can be pernicious motives whether a facility is nominally for profit or not. (For instance, say there is a doctor who gets paid in proportion to the time they spend treating patients at a non profit facility)

That's true, but removing the profit motive of the facility removes one major incentive for coordinated, large scale corruption like this. Other incentives (like production-based compensation being gamed by unscrupulous individuals) will have to be dealt with in other ways.

Re: Intake – American's largest psychiatric chain

#24

I have a (relatively minor) nit-pick with some of the language in the article. Early in the article the author writes "Current and former employees from at least 10 UHS hospitals in nine states said they were under pressure..." However, a few paragraphs later she writes "But scores of employees from at least a dozen UHS hospitals said those facilities tried to keep beds filled even at the expense..." I don't understa…

I read the "at least" language as more-explicitly leaving open the possibility that the problem exists in more widely in the UHS system.

Re: Intake – American's largest psychiatric chain

#25
post #14

"Current and former employees from at least 10 UHS hospitals in nine states said they were under pressure to fill beds by almost any method — which sometimes meant exaggerating people’s symptoms or twisting their words to make them seem suicidal — and to hold them until their insurance payments ran out." Don't worry, free-market ideologues will coolly tell you. Their logic will seem airtight: over time, if Intake's p…

Who are you referring to as free market ideologues? Many purport to be.

An anarco-capitalist (an anti-rand) libertarian flavor) rejects involuntary commitment as a matter of dogma. So these institutions cannot exist, even if they are following the "law".

Furthermore it is the state who has monopoly over violence that legitimizes this behavior (the history of physiology, involuntary commitment, and state violence is rich and fascinating).

Libertarians see this as violence over an individual. Not being the initiator of the violence, the victims have a full moral right to use violent means to defend themselves, up to and including deadly force.

Right or wrong, these "free market extremists" have a more nuanced position than "the market will sort it out"

Re: Intake – American's largest psychiatric chain

#26
post #22
post #14

"Current and former employees from at least 10 UHS hospitals in nine states said they were under pressure to fill beds by almost any method — which sometimes meant exaggerating people’s symptoms or twisting their words to make them seem suicidal — and to hold them until their insurance payments ran out." Don't worry, free-market ideologues will coolly tell you. Their logic will seem airtight: over time, if Intake's p…

You've introduced an ideological talking point in order to refute it, but that's the sort of tangent we ask people not to introduce into divisive threads, because they usually turn into generic arguments/flamewars that overwhelm the (far more interesting) specifics of a story.

dang: that wasn't my intention, but rereading what I wrote, I must admit you're right. The story upset me and I overreacted. Please feel free to delete/hide my comment. I added a note to prevent upvoting for now.

Re: Intake – American's largest psychiatric chain

#27
post #26
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You've introduced an ideological talking point in order to refute it, but that's the sort of tangent we ask people not to introduce into divisive threads, because they usually turn into generic arguments/flamewars that overwhelm the (far more interesting) specifics of a story.

dang: that wasn't my intention, but rereading what I wrote, I must admit you're right. The story upset me and I overreacted. Please feel free to delete/hide my comment. I added a note to prevent upvoting for now.

I'd never delete an exchange with so exemplary a recovery :)

Re: Intake – American's largest psychiatric chain

#29
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If these allegations are proven and those responsible for these policies don't spend significant time in prison then we can no longer deny that we live in a corrupt society.

I mean, this sounds a lot like criminal kidnapping.

And indeed she reached a settlement with the company which presumably means they were worried about losing a lawsuit or worse.
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