One in seven medical diagnoses is wrong

One in seven medical diagnoses is wrong

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15132809,00.html

No, you aren't seeing this kind of chaos in America—it’s happening in Germany, an efficient, highly organized place... which makes you wonder. If things are tripping up there, I can only imagine how much messier the situation likely is back home.

In today's healthcare landscape, doctors are spending less and less actual time with their patients—and honestly, the motivation is usually the bottom line, since every single consultation is basically just another transaction for the clinic...

Which really leaves us asking ourselves: did my doctor actually get the diagnosis right?

It's probably worth seeking out a second opinion... just to be safe.

Just imagine... SEVENTH... talk about precision. ☕

Given how many diagnoses I've racked up, there's no way one of them isn't actually wrong according to these stats ☕

😁
We’re "beyond" all that. In this country, we don't just sit around waiting months for a diagnosis because of some massive backlog. So, technically, there isn't an issue here—because if you haven't been diagnosed, the problem doesn't officially exist. 👍

Look, mistakes happen. It’s a thing in every profession. You can't expect someone to work without tripping up once in a while 😁 But I'm definitely not buying this idea
"In modern healthcare, doctors spend less and less time with patients because they're just chasing the almighty dollar—every patient visit is basically a payday for them" That's just wrong. The real issue here in America is that we have too few doctors for way too many people. Clinics are absolutely slammed, and it's physically and mentally impossible to give everyone quality care. Take a primary care doctor, for example—some days they’re seeing 70 patients. It’s hard enough to even say "hello" to everyone, let alone actually listen to their problems and figure out what's wrong. Also, the claim that doctors here in the US rush through visits just to make more money makes zero sense. An internist gets paid the same whether they see 50 people or 20 in a day. Period. Hospital doctors (and I'm not talking about private practice here) spend little time with patients because the government is cheap. Our clinics sit empty in the afternoons with all this expensive equipment just collecting dust because the Administration won't pay doctors to work second shifts. If they did, we could slash waiting lists and actually give patients the time they deserve. We need to distribute specialties better, hire more doctors, run clinics in two shifts, and actually use the resources we already have.
You have to get one thing straight: both doctors and patients are essentially costs to a social state like ours. Every test a doctor orders and every procedure performed is insanely expensive, and it all gets billed to Medicare (the government). The state pushes doctors to the limit at the expense of the patients, which is why I blame the Administration most. It's not like our doctors are "stupid" and people over in Denmark were somehow born "smarter"!
If you ask me, the most critical link in the chain is primary care. Once we hire more family practitioners and cap the number of patients per doctor at a reasonable level, then—and only then—will everyone get actual attention. As long as primary care docs are stuck managing 2,200 patients, nothing changes. We need more specialists, two-shift coverage, and fair pay for doctors, but hey, all that costs money, and this corrupt government isn't exactly handing it out. The future looks like a shift toward private insurance companies and private clinics where doctors are better paid and incentivized. People with money will just head there to get better care and skip the lines.

Hahahahha, man, I’ve been dealing with knee issues since I was like 19 or 20. It actually got so bad I had to drop out of my college athletics program. I went to four different doctors—four!—and every single one of them just mumbled some vague nonsense or tried to act like they were geniuses, but not one of them could actually give me a straight diagnosis 🤦. Then, about eight years ago, I finally rolled in to see Dr. Bojanić 🙏. He nailed the diagnosis in like two minutes flat and immediately scheduled me for surgery. But get this—by total fluke, I ended up seeing a chiropractor (Bolkovac) just two days before the operation, and he fixed the whole thing with his hands in literally two minutes.

What I’m trying to say is... whenever I—or anyone close to me—have health issues, it’s always the same story: as many doctors as there are, there are just as many different diagnoses. I honestly can’t remember a single time where two doctors actually agreed on what was wrong with me ☕. And let me tell you, don't be too quick to trust them... call me crazy, but the vast majority of these guys think they know everything based on the very FIRST sentence you utter. Every time I actually started explaining the details, they’d cut me off and start lecturing me. It’s always the same pattern. Not one of them listens to the full story. Well, except for one. Dr. Mladen Miškulin (orthopedic surgeon) 🙏. I’ve had two experiences with him, and both were absolutely perfect. Huge respect to him.

It seems like every seventh doctor... actually gets the diagnosis right 😉 😁

wiredcanyon2 said:I can accept that mistakes happen—they happen in every profession, really, and you can't expect someone to work without hitting a snag now and then... 😁 But I have to disagree with the premise here
"In modern healthcare, doctors spend less and less time with patients because they're chasing the money, since every patient visit is basically just a transaction for their pockets" because the real issue in America is simply having too few doctors for the sheer volume of people... clinics are just overwhelmed, and honestly, it’s physically and mentally impossible to provide quality care to everyone under these conditions. Take a primary care physician, for instance—some days they might see 70 patients. It's hard enough to say "hello" to everyone, let alone actually listen and figure out what's wrong with each individual... And the idea that our doctors are rushing through visits just for the cash doesn't hold water—it makes no sense, because an internist gets paid the same whether they see 50 patients or 20 in a day. The truth is, hospital doctors (and I'm not talking about private practice here) spend little time with patients because the government is being stingy... we have outpatient clinics sitting empty in the afternoons, filled with expensive equipment just gathering dust, because the Administration won't fund enough shifts to reduce waiting lists or give patients more dedicated time. We need to distribute specialties better, hire more doctors, run clinics in two shifts, and actually use the resources we already have...
You have to look at it this way—doctors and patients are essentially a cost to a social welfare state like ours. Every test a doctor orders and every procedure performed is incredibly expensive, and it all gets billed back to Medicare (the government). The state tends to squeeze doctors at the expense of the patients, so I blame the Administration most of all; it's not that our doctors are "unintelligent" or anything, it's not like people born in Denmark are suddenly "smarter"...
To my mind, the most vital link in the whole system is primary care. If we hire more family practitioners and cap the number of patients per doctor at a reasonable level, then everyone will finally get the time they deserve. As long as primary care doctors are juggling 2,200 patients, nothing is going to change... plus we need more specialists, two-shift coverage, and fair pay for the work they do, but of course, all of that costs money—money this corrupt state seems reluctant to spend. The future looks like a shift toward private insurance companies and boutique clinics where doctors are better compensated and incentivized; those who can afford it will naturally gravitate toward where the care is better and the wait times are shorter...

That observation was actually referring to the situation in Germany, so obviously things are different here in America... 😉
Around here, it feels like every other diagnosis is wrong... ☕

Justin Gray81 said:Hahahahha I’ve been dealing with knee issues since I was about 19 or 20—it actually forced me to drop out of college. I saw four different doctors, and honestly, they were all just mumbling and playing pretend... nobody could ever give me a straight diagnosis 🤦. Then, about eight years ago, I finally ended up seeing Dr. Bojanić 🙏, who nailed the diagnosis in two minutes flat and scheduled me for surgery. But, by some stroke of luck, I stumbled upon a chiropractor (Bolkovac) just two days before the operation, and he fixed everything with his hands in about two minutes.

I just want to say... whenever I’ve had health issues—or my family has—the number of diagnoses is always equal to the number of doctors we see. I can't recall a single time where two doctors gave me the exact same answer ☕... which really makes you think. I mean, exceptions exist, sure, but most of them seem to think they have it all figured out based on the very first sentence you utter. Every time I tried to explain more, they’d just cut me off and start lecturing. It’s always the same pattern. Not one of them actually listens to what you're trying to tell them. Well, there is one. Dr. Mladen Miškulin (an orthopedist) 🙏—I’ve had two experiences with him, and both were perfect. Hats off to him.

Every seventh doctor... actually gets it right 😉 😁

My situation was a bit more extreme—they did a scan of my head and the doctor tells me it’s a brain tumor. So I asked if she could email the image over to New York City. She sent it, and then the doctor looks at it and goes, "Forget the tumor, it's an aneurysm, get here immediately for surgery."