John C. Dvorak Hospitalization, Medical Monitoring, and ER Experience
John C. Dvorak details a recent emergency room visit and subsequent hospitalization where he was fitted with a 24/7 data collection device. He describes a confrontation with a floor doctor regarding his discharge status and alleges that hospitals have a financial incentive to keep Medicare patients for longer durations. The account includes his frustration with hospital logistics and the use of an unfamiliar Android phone provided by the facility for medical tracking.
john c. dvorak· emergency room· medical monitoring· medicare· hospital bureaucracy
00:00 Uh, nuts. And broadcasting live from the heart of the Texas snow country here in FEMA region number 6. In the morning everybody, I'm Adam Curry! And from Refinery Row in Northern California where we're all asking Donald Trump Daddy are we there yet? I'm John C. Dvorak. It's Crackpot and Buzzkill...in the morning So...I don't want to be the one to complain because I am not the worst wounded on this show but I have the seed of fever
00:46 You had the what? Cedar fever. Oh cedar, oh this is where every year this happens. I thought you had that HIPAA filter, that HIPAA filter! It's everywhere and during the bat signal it caught in my throat and during this opening it caught... And the only cure for a fever is more cowbell. It's just so bad Anyway, I'll get through it. How are you ma'am? We got a little scare scare we were feared for you and I had to go into the hospital for a certain checkup and then they outfitted me with a With one of these with a bunch of gear Strapped He strapped everybody what do you strapped with what he's trapped when you gotta know something I got some uncomfortable device on and a
01:36 some sort of a pad, some weird sticker. It looks like decal that sends...that collects data 24-7 for two weeks. Wait and does this send...is this connected to an iPhone? Please tell me it is! Yeah. To Jay's iPhone whose iPhone you're using No no this is connected I had my phone and they said there's an app Like so the phone wait, but you showed him your phone they went what is that? They said this phone is old and I said yeah it works It works. What am I supposed to say? So they gave me a phone Oh, they gave an iPhone no not knife on some some Android so big So your Android was not even compatible with today's modern technology Wow
02:33 You know because here's here. I got no information Did you get my text? I sent you a taxi you get my texts No, you didn't give my texts it's on your phone on the phone Oh, yeah should send it to the text system. You are confusing if you text you call me from your phone You text me from your phone now start using that like hey This is John's phone you're in the hospital and then as like I might as well not exist meanwhile Horace It's like oh yeah, I talked to John everything's fine You know this Mimi keeps telling me stop talking to Horowitz it hurts Adams feelings It does Well, you know since I didn't hear back from you like I only talked to Horowitz because they had to skip the show because they were doing something and they would be this horrible situation occurred with me in a specific doctor at the hospital who I chewed out and then Can talk about it
03:33 Yeah, I'll talk about it. So i had this doctor that was at the top there's a doctor that is in charge of the floor Do you mind if I go back for second? No. so I heard that you went to ER This is information I got You went to... here how it was conveyed to me What do mean uh? Well I mean this gonna interrupt my story but okay well I think it flows into your story John's in the ER. Okay, is he okay? Well yeah But he's been waiting and for hours and I got the impression that you were lying on a gurney in the hallway No, no Mm-hmm might as well have been though okay cuz I doctor I started I started pulling The bat so at the reason I'm irked about it because this doctor comes in small Chinese woman It says we gotta keep another day what
04:31 No, I come in and I'm going you know, I mean I'm out You know another day as she looked at nothing to determine this so the next day. I'm upstairs stuck there and She comes in you got keep you another day what you should know So I got bit This was from a long series of things that I so I got mad at her Told she's not interested in the patients whatsoever. And then I said to her, oh this is very dramatic Eric because Brennan was there with it comes I said you know what? You're a lousy doctor
05:09 You have no concern for the patient's needs or desires. And now I kept reading into the Riot Act, and so she left. Wait she didn't say anything? Well she kind of pushed back a little bit Did she huff? She should've at least huffed Maybe...she had a mask on Of course, of course Mask always, always masks So one of the nurses comes in I'm gossiping with her because i do that with the nurses and then i said what i did. I told her what i did And the nurse says you want to file a report? Yes, please! and it took about five beats so i said yeah Yeah, and so she rushes over to the console and says tell me everything You know oh it was obvious to me that this doctor is a problem doctor
06:05 That was my determination. And so then meanwhile, then the supervisor comes in and grills me and makes me tell the story Yeah, and then she's oh you know we were trying to be for the patient You know when the nurses don't like the doctor that's a problem with that doctor? And then there is a I don't know that by the way on what you just said. I'm not sure that's true But I'm... because, you know, I don't want to demean the nurse. But it's probably true. Then I got another supervisor comes in. So what I've done was like an a-hole that can be, if you haven't noticed... Not at all. Went through the system because there are ways you can complain but doing it from the outside in having worked in a bureaucracy for eight years doing it from the outside and is not the same as doing it from the inside out so she's in trouble
07:08 And rightly so, because was she just trying to up her... Do you think she gets paid more by keeping you there longer? Is there an incentive? Well I've concluded the following. If you're a Medicare patient, the money's automatic Right So that this- The money is coming They don't have to fight it for their money You're a goldmine So Medicare patients, let's do what can we do? And so I think that all these systems not just the one i'm here with All these systems across the country are gouging the government. That's why medicare Oh, what are we gonna do you know it's going broke yeah for good reason They're doing everything they can to break it. I'm surprised they didn't slap you on a vent for another 11 grand
07:56 Let's put this old geezer on a vent. We know that's money in the bank! Hey, can we publish that data? That they're collecting? Can we make like a real-time JCD graph health graph? Well...We're gonna try to get all the records. Well I was concerned You know, if I was concerned and if it was bad enough that involved you. I would have called you Yeah But only call Horowitz because they had to skip the show Oh, I know but the fact that you didn't call or didn't even answer my text made me feel like well I must've sorry no, okay That was much worse cuz all I got from Jay is hey just an FYI John's at the ER Okay
08:42 I'm not complaining. By the way, the reason why I was in the ER because when you go in there and get checked-in that's where you have to go is first I was there forever Because they had there was a fiasco situation, which is another whole story Which I won't tell there was some kind of horrible accident that took place. No, no They just do it's just the logistics thing It wasn't ridiculous let me guess a bunch of illegal aliens had priority over you that was my conclusion Well, yeah, it's possible Anyway long as they get their money hey You know what? You sound good in fact if you want to so I'll just tell you what my text was to you and
09:23 I'm sorry? Should i read you my text? Hold on a second let me turn off the heater. That was going to be my next complaint! Now, here's my text... Hope you're enjoying... Never let a good text go to waste. Hope you're enjoying your stay! What a bummer, this sucks Don't worry about clips for Thursday I'll have us well covered Just show up and grouse as usual Come on man that's a great text for somebody who is in the ER Oh man You just like an amateur writer Can't throw anything out
