Thursday, March 29, 2012

Doctor Old School

Dear Dr. Old School,

I have seen cases of yours before, so I guess I should have been prepared for the experience of working in your clinic. The first thing I noted was that there were no computers. At all. Not even for the books. This is the 21st century. How can you not have a computer that at least manages your books? Does your accountant hate you?

And though handwritten notes are still common, writing records on 5 x 7 note cards is a little 1970's. And one line per visit does not help me out. When Fluffy got here for shots and I looked back to see what shots Fluffy had, all it said was "vaccines." That doesn't help me. It also doesn't help your patients.

Further more, leaving the vaccinations (which are supposed to be kept refrigerated) on the counter all day is a good practice builder: when all of those puppies come down with parvo, you will get paid to treat them. And why is the staff telling me that I am supposed to use a steroid rather than the sterile diluent to mix the vaccines? Do you really do that shit? Seriously? How have you not been sued yet?

The 10 AM kitty "allergy shot" did not get a shot from me. Why you ask? Because you have given her a long acting steroid shot (one that lasts 4-6 weeks) once a week for the last month. And frankly, she looks a little cushingoid at this point. And judging from the clear foul smelling urine, I am thinking that she might be a diabetic with a urinary tract infection as well. At least the owner is pretty adamant that she is not paying for "any of those newfangled tests." Awesome. I am trying to save her cats life and not throw you under the bus and I am the bad guy.

When 2 PM rolled around, and a dachshund in full status epilepticus was rushed in, your staff had no idea where the valium was located. I think I almost had a sympathetic seizure when they told me that. Even more fun is that the staff does not know how to use the x-ray machine. Seriously? You do that yourself? Well, I guess I could try to use your technique chart to coax a decent picture out of it? What, no technique chart? Oh, well I guess it doesn't matter because I don't know how to use the dip tanks to develop the radiograph anyway. The first clinic I worked at in 1995 even had a machine that developed them.

At the end of the day, when it was time to get paid, I was happy to receive cash. That way there is no official record of me being here, besides my scribbled signature on those antiquated records. You are a super nice guy and I always enjoy talking to you, but your clinic is a mess. You are one board complaint away from being fined out the yin yang and possibly handed a reason to retire. I have no idea how you pass inspection each year. You don't have to have expensive toys to be a great vet, but you do need to keep decent records and practice good medicine.

Mixing steroids with a vaccine.... When I saw that, I knew I had to blog that shit. I might be worried about you reading it, but since you have no computer, I am not too worried.

12 comments:

  1. Well that was a scary read...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yikes, relief job from hell! I always try to visit clinics ahead of time because I'm terrified of that sort of situation. Things I wouldn't even think to ask because they're so unbelievable!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wish I could say there were no veterinarians in my area whose practices are like this. Sad to say, I can think of three. One hospital is AAHA-certified. Scary.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I worked for a vet like this.... it almost makes me think you are talking about him.... needless to say I quit after 3 months!

    ReplyDelete
  5. $100 his clients think he walks on water because he's cheap. They have NO idea the dangers their pets are in. Makes *me* want to have a seizure.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Happy to have a vet (and his assistants. Gah, vets, who you hire to assist you SO important) that works for my critters and me. Perfect balance of affection and realism.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wow, I guess my boss could be worse. I'm guessing he's never had a dog have an anaphylactic reaction after being vaccinated!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I used to work for an old school vet about 6 years ago that was a much less extreme version of this. It was my first time working in a clinic, so I didn't think much of having to develop x-ray film and having an MS-DOS type system to keep our client records that would only allow you to input basic client/pet info and print out an invoice with a dot-matrix printer on the perforated, continuous paper. It was a whole new world when I moved to a more urban area and said "wow, they make special containers for sharps?" "wow everything is digital?" The vets there were competent, but there are definite advantages to keeping with the times.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I think I've taken a dog to that clinic. Once.

    ReplyDelete
  10. How is this "old school?" Not knowing where the valium is, untrained staff, steroids in the vaccines, steroids in the cat -- this is not old-fashioned practice in need of updates. It's just plain timeless negligence.

    ReplyDelete