Intake – American's largest psychiatric chain • Hacker News Board

Re: Intake – American's largest psychiatric chain

#71

Post by StanislavPetrov » Sat, Dec 10, 2016, 4:34 AM UTC

DashRattlesnake wrote: post #5

> 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…

This is kidnapping plain and simple. The fact that it is done under the guise of a corporate/medical structure should not be relevant. Those involved in these crimes should be arrested and prosecuted under RICO laws, from the top to the bottom.

Re: Intake – American's largest psychiatric chain

#72

Post by Keverw » Sat, Dec 10, 2016, 5:03 AM UTC

It is so crazy how doctors can just lock people up and drug them. No trial, no right to an attorney, not even a one phone call always... Someone who just murdered someone and went to jail has more rights than these doctors give people.

Personally, I think a majority of the mental health industry is a fraud. These are the same people who voted that being LGBTQ is a mental illness in the DSM. :( Plus they don't even have blood testing like the majority of doctors can use as a test.

Then they over diagnosed kids and drug them, as a result of the one size fits all and boring education system - which promotes testing and memorization over charter and critical thinking.

Re: Intake – American's largest psychiatric chain

#73

Post by matheusmoreira » Sat, Dec 10, 2016, 5:08 AM UTC

Yeah, after reading all this, I wouldn't blame those patients if they didn't trust healthcare professionals anymore. It's clear these people don't have the patient's best interests in mind.

Locking the doors behind people coming into the hospital voluntarily? I wish they were making this up.

Re: Intake – American's largest psychiatric chain

#74

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Dec 10, 2016, 5:40 AM UTC

DashRattlesnake wrote: post #5

> 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…

[deleted]

Re: Intake – American's largest psychiatric chain

#75

Post by warfangle » Sat, Dec 10, 2016, 5:56 AM UTC

0xcde4c3db wrote: post #67

Based on my experience as a patient (not at a UHS facility, as far as I can tell) I'm pretty confident that the stuff reported in this article is just the tip of the iceberg. These facilities are structured in a way that makes people doubt their own memories and feel powerless, even before the neuroleptics come out. Treatment "progress" is predicated on -- if not synonymous with -- submission. I was put on suicide wa…

Heres one who hasn't spoken out.

I'm glad that I was able to get appropriate treatment (15 years later) but how I was treated as a teenager in a mental health facility was atrocious. Misdiagnosis, over medication, and only keeping patients as long as their insurance held out was par for the course.

Re: Intake – American's largest psychiatric chain

#76

Post by warfangle » Sat, Dec 10, 2016, 6:06 AM UTC

DanBC wrote: post #37

openasocket wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't speak about asylums in the 70s, but I think modern mental health centers have problems, some different, some similar. First is that these tend to be either state-run or contracted, and there is a great incentive to provide the bare minimum of care. There is also a serious issue with organization. My father used to work at some of these institutions. He's a psychologist with a PhD and 20+ years of experience t…

There's also a problem that the money saved by closing the big institutions wasn't put back into better community (outpatient) care. So people have to be acutely unwell to get any treatment. People with chronic problems don't get the treatment.

A lot of really good therapists don't accept insurance. A lot of really good psychiatrists don't take insurance.

Insurance covers on average two sessions of therapy annually.

Therapy is only effective over long periods (years) of regular (weekly/biweekly) sessions.

It's a fucking travesty.

I spend close to $500 per month, after insurance, for my mental healthcare. This is a therapist and a psychiatrist.

None of this is covered by my insurance.

I pay what I can with an FSA but it's extraordinarily exhausting.

Re: Intake – American's largest psychiatric chain

#77

Post by warfangle » Sat, Dec 10, 2016, 6:09 AM UTC

petulanta wrote: post #4

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…

Sometimes you need to make a cry for help and the only lever you have is saying this.

It doesn't mean that what was said was the actual reason, which happens to often. Not enough follow-up happens, and the original trigger for the call-for-help goes unaddressed.

Re: Intake – American's largest psychiatric chain

#78

Post by jrnichols » Sat, Dec 10, 2016, 6:16 AM UTC

DashRattlesnake wrote: post #7

petulanta wrote: post #4

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…

> 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 you? It shouldn't be, because doctors should have the sense and motivation to differentiate a joke from a true statement. It's just a really sad statement that our society has traps like this (that people really need to be aware of), which can really screw you over.

The problem is that one person that tells you they're just joking and actually goes out and commits suicide. Then it's on you, the healthcare professional. Lawyers would ruin you in court.

I've been in and out of various psychiatric facilities, including that very same facility in Arlington, and it seems like a lot of the policies & procedures are to cover themselves legally.

Oh, I've been there as a Paramedic, not as a patient. Almost forgot that bit. We typically bring people in the front door. Even voluntary admissions. The one thing that struck me as odd is that Millwood always has someone (a LCSW or something) come out and talk to patients there in the lobby some before having them sign any of the admission paperwork. They don't lock you in a room and then have you sign.

Re: Intake – American's largest psychiatric chain

#79

Post by gumby » Sat, Dec 10, 2016, 6:34 AM UTC

cylinder wrote: post #58

gumby wrote: post #30

By the way let's not forget this is excellent investigative reportage by Buzzfeed who is using their clickbait revenues to do real journalism.

Is there a business model behind it or just prestige? These types of articles definitely lose money for BuzzFeed.

I believe Peretti has made repeated claims dating back to the founding of the company that this was the plan. Either he's committed or doesn't want to be legitimately called a liar :-)

All joking aside: so far they've done good work and I assume it is earnest.

Re: Intake – American's largest psychiatric chain

#80

Post by gurneyHaleck » Sat, Dec 10, 2016, 7:30 AM UTC

sageikosa wrote: post #39

DashRattlesnake wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

So without profit, the operating metric will be what exactly?

I can see it now:

  "This graph depicting
   revenue reveals that
   the maternity ward is
   quite the cost center. It
   should be going up and 
   to the right!

   Smithers, why are there
   so few pregnancies? We
   need more in-patients,
   otherwise our overhead
   starts eating away at 
   our profits."

  "Well, sir, I suppose 
   there aren't as many
   teen pregnancies as 
   there used to be, and
   with the benefit of 
   modern procedures, the
   pregnancies we do see
   are fairly uncomplicated..."

  "Uncomplicated?! Why,
   everyone knows live
   vaginal births are the
   devil's causeway. Those
   infants can't be as 
   healthy as these so-
   called 'doctors' seem
   to believe. See to it
   that more tests are 
   performed. I'm sure we
   can find something wrong 
   with some of these 
   freeloaders."

...enter Dr. Nick.

  "Hi, everybody!"