Jan 29

“Who Performed Your Surgery?”

“Who performed your surgery?” – OB to mother at a follow up appointment after a D&C for a miscarriage. The surgery was performed by this OB.

63 people dislike these words.

There are 13 comments to this post.

Lori S had this to say, Jan 29, 2012 @ 6:14 pm (Quote)

the cool thing about medical offices is that they have these things called charts…all the info you need about a patient should be in them. Go ahead and glance at them before walking into a room and making an ass of yourself and striking fear in a patient.

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Cara had this to say, Jan 29, 2012 @ 6:14 pm (Quote)

Read. The. Chart.

Preferable BEFORE you enter the room.

If you don’t have time to read the chart, you’re doing it wrong.

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first time mommy had this to say, Jan 29, 2012 @ 6:40 pm (Quote)

Go look in the mirror. Maybe that’ll give u hint.

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Jessica had this to say, Jan 29, 2012 @ 7:37 pm (Quote)

Were you just about to criticize the surgery you performed? Maybe it’s time for a new OB, considering you have so many patients you can’t keep track.

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Jane Reply:
January 30th, 2012 at 4:08 am Jane(Quote)

Hm. Actually, why *does* the doctor want to know who performed the D&C? It shouldn’t matter unless the doctor knows that Dr. A’s patients frequently suffer a specific complication whereas Dr. B’s don’t.

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Kit Reply:
February 6th, 2012 at 12:46 pm Kit(Quote)

My cousin went into her OB’s office for a follow-up after having her baby and was asked (By OB who had his nose buried in the chart) which OB had delivered her baby and “if it was Dr. Such-and-Such would you consent to a pelvic exam? He never puts the stitches in correctly…” We both stared at her Dr since HE delivered Baby. He gave us a confused look, opened the chart, looked at us suspiciously, then looked down at the baby… and called HIM by name.

Then he looked sheepish and admitted he didn’t recongnize Cousin with her hair dyed. He also asked us to “forget” what he’d said about Dr. Such-and-Such

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himom had this to say, Jan 29, 2012 @ 7:43 pm (Quote)

I once read a story about twin brothers, only one of whom was actually a doctor, who would impersonate each other working at the hospital. That might explain this comment….

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Jane had this to say, Jan 30, 2012 @ 4:06 am (Quote)

My kids do this to me too. It’s easier to ask me than to look it up. I just kind of hoped more doctors would be over the age of ten.

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DaynawithaY had this to say, Jan 30, 2012 @ 8:31 am (Quote)

This is the biggest problem that i see wth electronic records. The doctor can’t read the chart until she’s in the patient room and logged in to the computer, unless she can read it in her office or at a nurse’s station, but then, there’s usually not enough time between appointments to do that.

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Laura Reply:
January 30th, 2012 at 8:34 pm Laura(Quote)

Not a problem with electronic records, but with bad setup. My OB’s office uses electronic records…and every doctor and nurse has a nice lightweight little laptop they bring around with them to everything. Set it anywhere, take a quick glance, then continue into the room…such a nice setup.

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J. Reply:
January 30th, 2012 at 9:15 pm J.(Quote)

That sounds like a fantastic risk for infection transmission.

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Aron Reply:
February 1st, 2012 at 4:56 am Aron(Quote)

A lot of hospitals (and probably clinics) use portable computers. Often they are on wheeled carts – our local hospitals call them C.O.W.s (computer on wheels). They aren’t taken into rooms where a patient is on isolation precautions, but otherwise there is no need to avoid taking them with you and they are quite helpful. The nurse or doctor washes his/her hands before and after patient interaction, and they wear exam gloves which come off before touching the computer. There are cans of wipes right on the carts for cleaning. It’s generally a pretty good system, and better then bringing in a paper chart to lay on a possibly contaminated table or bed.

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