Doctor Woes
Jul. 11th, 2010 11:57 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
http://users.livejournal.com/_caecus_/ posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
techrecoveryI work in a hospital, so doctors are the bane of my sanity at times. I don't mind the little old ladies who have a little trouble with technology, but people who refuse to listen or have a little patience just drive me batty. So, here are a couple of stories from instances like that. I will use the variable $HTTD for the Holier Than Thou Doctor in question.
Instance 1:
A doctor called, because he made a mistake in a patient's chart that locked it. It takes thirty minutes for the chart to unlock in the system we use when a doctor does certain things wrong. This is so it will roll back the change and then the doctor can go back and edit the chart, again. I understand that this can be a problem in critical care areas. Anyway, $HTTD had one of the nurses call one of my coworkers who is in an office we share. He starts the call, and I get a call, so I start paying attention to that. My coworker says that it will unlock in thirty minutes, but they say it's important that $HTTD be able to put some orders through immediately. Not a big deal. He says he will call an analyst for this system to see if they can manually do it faster, but if they can't, it will unlock in thirty minutes.
It's important to keep in mind that I am on a call after the very beginning of that call, so I don't know any of the details stated in the first paragraph, because I didn't hear them. I was remotely fixing something for another user. $HTTD calls me and says, "We need this issue fixed now." Well that's fantastic. I say, "I am not sure what issue you're talking about," and he says, "If you don't know, then get somebody who does." I spend a few minutes trying to interject that I did not take the call in question, so I don't have any idea what he's talking about, and if he will inform me which issue he is calling about, I can find out. The problem is, he interrupts me every time I try to explain that it wasn't me he talked to, and the coworker he talked to stepped out of the office. I make one last attempt to explain, and he raised his voice and said, "You need to hush your damned mouth," at which point I hung up on him and emailed my manager, assistant director, and director. Thankfully, my Manager and Assistant Director have had words with him about other issues.
Instance 2:
The same $HTTD has a unit secretary call to have his password reset for the system we use for patient charts. The problem is, a physician has privileges to view a lot more patient information than a Unit Secretary is has access to. This is a restriction in place for enforcement of HIPPA laws and for auditing in case someone does something illegal or questionable. I tell her, "I can reset his password, but I have to talk to him. I can't give you his password, only him, due to HIPPA and internal policy restrictions." He is standing close enough to her to say, "I don't have time to talk to him," but not take 30 seconds for me to ask for the last four digits of his social and give him his new password. So, he can't do patient charts until he gets back into the system... brilliant.
Instance 3:
Again, it's the same $HTTD that calls.... HIMSELF. He didn't have someone else call, for once. He said that one of the computers in the ICU keeps freezing up with an hourglass. Now, doctors run some pretty heavy applications, so you have to reboot once in a while. I check the remote status of his PC, and it has been on for almost a week. I tell him that it probably just needs to be restarted. He launches into this big tirade about how that's unacceptable and this needs to be "fixed." There is nothing to be "fixed," though. It's just the price of using Windows based machines. They need to be restarted once in a while.
Instance 4:
This last one is from a different doctor, and he's not so holier than though, he just has no patience. Let's call him $ID for "Impatient Doctor." He calls from the ER, saying one of their PCs is out. I ask if he's try to hold the power button and restart it that way. He says he tried that, already. I ask if his LCD is on, because you'd be amazed how often the tower is on, but the LCD isn't. He's very obviously angry about this. I do understand that doctors in the ER see some hellish stuff, but being abrasive with the folks who help you out doesn't get you very far. In any case, I very quickly go to check on his PC. He is in a constant angry tirade about this from the moment I walk in the door until the end. I sit down, and I turn it on. It boots up right away. He asked me, "What was wrong with it," very loud. Normally, I would pull an end user to the side so as to help them save face. Since he did it that way, "I said, "Nothing. You were turning the computer beside it on and off." Evidently, a medical degree doesn't provide you the necessary skills to realize you're turning the PC beside it on and off. The wires cables were not crossed... They were neatly wire tied and all. I don't see how he didn't notice that or the fact that him turning the PC on and off turned the LCD on and off beside it.
These guys make my head hurt.
Instance 1:
A doctor called, because he made a mistake in a patient's chart that locked it. It takes thirty minutes for the chart to unlock in the system we use when a doctor does certain things wrong. This is so it will roll back the change and then the doctor can go back and edit the chart, again. I understand that this can be a problem in critical care areas. Anyway, $HTTD had one of the nurses call one of my coworkers who is in an office we share. He starts the call, and I get a call, so I start paying attention to that. My coworker says that it will unlock in thirty minutes, but they say it's important that $HTTD be able to put some orders through immediately. Not a big deal. He says he will call an analyst for this system to see if they can manually do it faster, but if they can't, it will unlock in thirty minutes.
It's important to keep in mind that I am on a call after the very beginning of that call, so I don't know any of the details stated in the first paragraph, because I didn't hear them. I was remotely fixing something for another user. $HTTD calls me and says, "We need this issue fixed now." Well that's fantastic. I say, "I am not sure what issue you're talking about," and he says, "If you don't know, then get somebody who does." I spend a few minutes trying to interject that I did not take the call in question, so I don't have any idea what he's talking about, and if he will inform me which issue he is calling about, I can find out. The problem is, he interrupts me every time I try to explain that it wasn't me he talked to, and the coworker he talked to stepped out of the office. I make one last attempt to explain, and he raised his voice and said, "You need to hush your damned mouth," at which point I hung up on him and emailed my manager, assistant director, and director. Thankfully, my Manager and Assistant Director have had words with him about other issues.
Instance 2:
The same $HTTD has a unit secretary call to have his password reset for the system we use for patient charts. The problem is, a physician has privileges to view a lot more patient information than a Unit Secretary is has access to. This is a restriction in place for enforcement of HIPPA laws and for auditing in case someone does something illegal or questionable. I tell her, "I can reset his password, but I have to talk to him. I can't give you his password, only him, due to HIPPA and internal policy restrictions." He is standing close enough to her to say, "I don't have time to talk to him," but not take 30 seconds for me to ask for the last four digits of his social and give him his new password. So, he can't do patient charts until he gets back into the system... brilliant.
Instance 3:
Again, it's the same $HTTD that calls.... HIMSELF. He didn't have someone else call, for once. He said that one of the computers in the ICU keeps freezing up with an hourglass. Now, doctors run some pretty heavy applications, so you have to reboot once in a while. I check the remote status of his PC, and it has been on for almost a week. I tell him that it probably just needs to be restarted. He launches into this big tirade about how that's unacceptable and this needs to be "fixed." There is nothing to be "fixed," though. It's just the price of using Windows based machines. They need to be restarted once in a while.
Instance 4:
This last one is from a different doctor, and he's not so holier than though, he just has no patience. Let's call him $ID for "Impatient Doctor." He calls from the ER, saying one of their PCs is out. I ask if he's try to hold the power button and restart it that way. He says he tried that, already. I ask if his LCD is on, because you'd be amazed how often the tower is on, but the LCD isn't. He's very obviously angry about this. I do understand that doctors in the ER see some hellish stuff, but being abrasive with the folks who help you out doesn't get you very far. In any case, I very quickly go to check on his PC. He is in a constant angry tirade about this from the moment I walk in the door until the end. I sit down, and I turn it on. It boots up right away. He asked me, "What was wrong with it," very loud. Normally, I would pull an end user to the side so as to help them save face. Since he did it that way, "I said, "Nothing. You were turning the computer beside it on and off." Evidently, a medical degree doesn't provide you the necessary skills to realize you're turning the PC beside it on and off. The wires cables were not crossed... They were neatly wire tied and all. I don't see how he didn't notice that or the fact that him turning the PC on and off turned the LCD on and off beside it.
These guys make my head hurt.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-07-12 05:33 am (UTC)I was a lab tech for many years. We'd get asked to send our Path to draw patients on the floor. Yes, they would ask for our Pathologist. We'd go up instead of course, and the nurses would get all butt-hurt because we were ONLY a tech, and obviously, we could NEVER be as good as a nurse at something.
Then I'd get the patients blood on the very first stick, with the idiot nurse watching. I would then inform them in as kind and nice a voice as I could muster, but loudly, that the lab was very happy to help them collect specimens from patients they were unable to draw, and should the need arise, to just let us know and we'd send one of the junior phlebotomists to help them.
I had one ask me why it was that I thought we were so good but the nurses weren't, to which I replied, "We don't learn on Oranges."
no subject
Date: 2010-07-13 01:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-19 07:48 pm (UTC)Nothing will set me off quicker than someone being a dick to me in front of others (as if to make it obvious that I'M the one who doesn't know what I'm doing). If you make me have to show you HOW wrong you were in front of your peeps, I'm going to use a sledgehammer to kill an ant, so to speak. I'll use small words. I'll use drawings. I'll do the umpire punch out from "Naked Gun" if I have to. But you will NOT clown on me.
no subject
Date: 2010-07-20 07:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-12 08:36 am (UTC)I had a guy argue with me for a good five minutes or so about getting a product replaced under warranty. He insisted that he should get a brand-new one-year warranty on the replacement product. I finally said "Look, this is just how the warranties on electronics are; we're no different than anyone else." His response? "I know, I'm a lawyer." So why did you argue with me, retard?
*headdesk*
no subject
Date: 2010-07-12 11:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-12 11:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-12 05:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-12 06:26 pm (UTC)So you HAVE the ability to shut up when you know you are wrong?
no subject
Date: 2010-07-12 06:44 pm (UTC)(But apparently they DID teach me confusing legalese. I'm so proud of myself.)
no subject
Date: 2010-07-13 01:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-12 11:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-13 01:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-13 01:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-12 12:12 pm (UTC)The more educated someone is in a certain field, the dumber they are in others.
My own step-father who was the head research chemist for a large chemical corporation for 40+ years (PHD, etc.) was a complete moron when it came to computers for the longest time. He'd try to argue with me over them, until finally one day I looked at him and said "Look, do I try to argue with you about chemistry? No? Then stop arguing with me over MY field. You're wrong, I'm right, get over it..."
Finally got the point sunk in and he started listening. :)
-Az
no subject
Date: 2010-07-12 04:01 pm (UTC)I've been known more than once to say "I don't ____ (insert random thing that I don't do, like perform surgery, or do advanced accounting, so don't try to do my job"
no subject
Date: 2010-07-12 06:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-13 01:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-12 01:14 pm (UTC)Astonishingly, regular professors are somewhat better.
no subject
Date: 2010-07-13 01:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-12 01:18 pm (UTC)They've both been written up.
and instance #2? While we only have minimal involvement with HIPPA, we do have this little thing called the Gaming compact with the state which states as part of the minimum internal controls, "Thou shalt not share thine password with ANYONE." We have had exactly ONE person do it. Their account got disabled and my boss had a chat with their boss. I'm not sure where that ended up, but they probably got written up as well.
*has been known to state at work, half jokingly, that "I'm the only one allowed to abuse the support staff, because when I do it, it's because I'm right and they did something wrong." *
no subject
Date: 2010-07-13 01:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-13 01:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-13 01:56 am (UTC)When I was still on the front line for support, I would have people call in wanting passwords reset, and they'd try to tell me their old password. I'd interrupt them as soon as I could with "I don't need that information- I can just reset your password to something else."
Fortunately, I'm a bit higher up on the food chain now- I'm doing network admin stuff.
no subject
Date: 2010-07-13 10:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-12 03:44 pm (UTC)Congratulations! You have won the internet. It will be arriving under separate cover in 2-3 days.
no subject
Date: 2010-07-13 01:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-12 11:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-13 01:51 am (UTC)