What Is Missing?

Viswamitra · May 25, 2017

Sani12 said: ↑

That was a nice read
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@Sani12

Thank you for your feedback.

Viswa

Umanga · May 25, 2017

Viswamitra said: ↑

@Umanga,

I am not very familiar with the Indian hospitals recently as I have migrated to the US 22 years back.

Viswa
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Viswamitra said: ↑

I agree completely about India not lagging behind in medical treatment than any other western country.
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Viswamitra said: ↑

But what surprises me is when someone very famous like MGR, Rajnikanth and many other celebrities decide to go to other countries when they have the best of medical treatment in India.
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Forgive my impudence @Viswamitra, but if you have not lived in India for over two decades how can you speak of the excellence of Indian healthcare with such confidence?

We tend to believe the best about India because it suits us. It after all our home. It is where we were born and grew up and it is a place with which we associate our warmest memories. Unfortunately, the reality is quite different.

Umanga · May 25, 2017

Viswamitra said: ↑

@Umanga,

I am not very familiar with the Indian hospitals recently as I have migrated to the US 22 years back. However, I read a few reports about how some hospitals thrive using devious means to increase their revenues through referrals and revenue sharing. There are some obvious flaws in how the healthcare is provided. Even in Medical education, hefty capitation fees itself is a major huddle for most students with an exception of a few. Other than migration that happened in 1970s, there are very few migration to foreign countries in the medical field in India now. A few will always happen. Frankly, those Indian doctors who migrated in 1970s thrive here in the US so well.

Viswa
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Yes, I agree with the newly added content in this message. The pace of migration has slowed but I think it's still there. Anybody can thrive in a first-world environment. But, we weren't talking about individuals, we were talking about India as a whole.

Viswamitra · May 25, 2017

@Umanga,

Let us stop using this thread as a platform to bash the Indian hospital and healthcare system. That is not the purpose why I started this thread. If you like to express your opinion about social issues in India including lack of quality in healthcare, you can use your own thread to do so.

Let me answer your questions in the order in which you have raised them.

1) I am not sure where you live. But how can you say with certainty that Indian healthcare quality is far from International standards? Have you studied the Indian healthcare fields to provide specifics of why you consider the Indian healthcare system as far inferior to western healthcare system?

2) I said I migrated to the US 22 years back with reference to not personally experiencing hospitals in India for the past 22 years. That doesn't mean I have no knowledge about the healthcare back in India. In fact, I review a lot about healthcare in India and US in connection with my profession.

3) I didn't say good things about Indian healthcare merely because of my love for my mother country. Of course, I love my mother country. Many of my family members still live in India and they share their experiences. I have met many physicians who have visited Indian hospitals and they shared their experiences with the professionals in India and infrastructure in the hospitals. Besides, I also shared some drawbacks.

There are flaws in every system. If one is available in an affordable cost, the other might be very expensive. If one has world class infrastructure, another may have professionals who can optimize service with minimum infrastructure. If one is driven by the Insurance companies, the other may be driven by the demand of the consumer.

You have already given your honest feedback that having too many surgeries in one day felt me nervous.

Viswa

Gauri03 · May 25, 2017

Viswamitra said: ↑

Has practice of medicine become a mechanical operation or is it the advancement of technology that made the practice of medicine an extraordinary quality? But I must admit that the doctor and the medical assistants were extraordinary courteous and said so many times, “Our mission is to make everyone see better”.

What am I missing?
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Glad to know Mrs V is recovered and doing well!

As technology takes the guess work out of treatment protocols, a certain 'mechanization' of medicine is to be expected. Cataract surgery is one of those well-established procedures where chances of complications are remote. Thinking from the doctor's point of view, in the absence of uncertainty, efficiency takes precedence. Perhaps we have the old-fashioned notions of the family physician who came home with his black medicine bag, and stayed back to chat over a cup of tea. When the diagnoses and treatments depended on accurate patient histories, it was important for doctors to establish trust, hence more of a personal touch during the consultation was necessary. Now machines do the testing and soon they will diagnose and treat too. The doctor becomes the facilitator instead of the healer. The loss of the human touch is a sad fact that we will have to accept sooner or later. Of course, there still remain many medical disciplines where doctor-patient bonding is essential and can affect treatment outcomes. But I for one will be glad to see the automation of medicine. It will make medical care cheaper and more accessible.

Coming to the subject of medicine in India versus the US, my personal experience with doctors in India has been very favorable. I had a wisdom tooth removed a while back. The oral surgeon in the US extracted the tooth and left me in the hands of the dental assistant. She gave me a cotton swab for my mouth, zero instructions and sent me home. I ended up with a dry socket. For those who haven't experienced a dry socket, it feels like someone is operating a jackhammer inside your head. The pain radiates from your head, down through the jaw into the chest and doesn't let up for weeks. I've had two kids and a dry socket can give labor pains a run for their money! I called the dentist and they gave me an appointment 3 days later! Asked me to pop over the counter pain meds every 2 hours. When I did see the surgeon again, he simply shrugged and said there is no treatment for dry socket and I will have to suck it up! I remember being in excruciating pain for 3 weeks. I was so traumatized by that experience I refused to get the rest of my wisdom teeth removed for years.

Two years ago I was in India and one of my wisdom teeth started acting up. As you can imagine I refused to see a dentist. My parents had to drag me to the dentist's office. The dental surgeon was a happy, chatty sort. He took a peek inside my mouth and said, "Do you have diabetes?" I said no. Then he asked, "Did you have a baby recently?" I said yes. He said, "Then I'm sure you had gestational diabetes." I was wowed! I did have gestational diabetes. He said he could tell by looking at my gums! He asked me if I was on birth control. I was. He said it increased my risk of dry socket. The idiot doctor in the US never mentioned that bit. He convinced me to have all three of my remaining wisdom teeth taken out at the same time. He promised me I wouldn't get a dry socket if I followed his instructions. He inserted a medicated swab in the empty sockets to speed up healing. I had all three teeth removed and had zero complications. He even had me come back in 24 hours to make sure all was well. I was back to eating normally in 24 hours and off pain meds in 2 days. This is just one instance and I am not making a statement about Indian medical care in general, but boy was I impressed! If I need a dental procedure again I will have it done in India.

Viswamitra · May 25, 2017

@Gauri03,

You are right. More the technology improves, the cost of healthcare will come down. I don't mind if I lose personal attention. I would prefer better healthcare through technology than personal care. However, I am a little concerned about totally eliminating human intervention. Even when LASIK is done, one of the physician calls out the number and another one keeps operating the system and stops when he gets to that number. When my wife went for the follow up, the attending Ophthalmologist carefully looked into her operated eyes with a light and gave some instructions to the note taker. Then explained to us, "Her Lens need a little bit of polishing. It needs to settle little bit more in the membrane. I see some cataract residue still sitting on the Lens which we can vacuum after her eyes heal a little more." Those terms were alarming to me as eyes provide 85% of the knowledge we gain from the world.

There is no question Laser treatment for cataract is lot easier, faster and better when compared to putting a blade to the eyes. Hopefully, they would never develop fatigue in the process of making fortune using technology. Fortunately, the surgeon is a wonderful professional and was very good not only in his profession but also in communicating. We met him today and he said my wife is healing very nicely and asked her to put more Systane eye drops to keep it soaked in tears so that it would heal faster.

Thank you for sharing your experience in removing Wisdom teeth in India. When I was a student back in India, only Chinese doctors were experts in Dentistry in India. I have heard about medical tourism to Mexican border from Texas and California for Dentistry. I still don't understand how you managed the pain for 3 weeks. You are patience personified to me. If I was having that kind of pain, I would have used colorful language to converse with that Dental Surgeon.

Viswa

jayasala42 · May 25, 2017

Madam Gauri's narration about her visit to a dentist takes my memories back to 2001.As I was travelling back home in a van, there was sudden jerk, I was holding a handle attached to the previous row.My mouth simple dashed against the iron rod and seven or eight teeth of the upper jaw fell down inside the van .I had profuse bleeding.I got down, got some ice from a road side shop and proceeded to dentist.He had no go but to extract all other shaking teeth of the lower jaw too and advised to go in for artificial denture.As his father, a popular dentist had gone abroad his 25year old son had just started practising.
I was a little bit hesitant to be treated by a budding doctor. But my doubts proved to be wrong.
The denture was ready.Initial troubles started.When ever I opened my mouth either to eat or drink, the denture came out and fell into the tumbler or plare.I had to remove the denture while eating or drinking.
I met the doctor again and complained that the very purpose of denture was to use it while taking food and now that the purpose was totally lost.
The young doctor asked me two questions.
1.Are you aware of sibling jealousy?
2.Do you know to recite Sanskrit shlokas with complicated pronunciation like those of sankara or Vedantha Desikan?-Garuda Dandakam, Paduka Sahasram etc.When I nodded in positive.he said'your problems will be solved in a week.
As I was amazed at his statement he said," mami, the tongue and teeth are siblings. The tongue is used to the presence of natural teeth and accepted the teeth as its siblings. Now that the new comer 'denture' has occupied the place, the tongue feels very jealous of the new sibling and tries to drive him out whenever you open your mouth to eat or drink.Once you start pronouncing difficult Devanagari Aksharas the tongue tries to co operate.As sloka reciting becomes a habit the tongue is no longer jealous of the fresh teeth and starts accommodating it within the mouth.Now the tongue feels homely .within a week my tongue and artificial teeth became friendly.
More than the drug and treatment, the way the young doctor explained the whole process still is ever green in my memory.
I was amazed at the ingenuity of the doctor in connecting two different things and was able to give a reasonable explanation to a 60 year old grandma.
jayasala 42

justanothergirl · May 25, 2017

@Viswamitra ..glad ur wife is doing well. The human touch...thats what u were missing.

sindmani · May 25, 2017

In India we have great medical facility but it doesn't reach poor or middle class. Health insurance claims so and so benefits. But not very reliable. I know a cancer patient was not reimbursed any remuneration from health insurance. I have seen patients who are cured after being admitted in ICU has been kept as inpatient to extract little more money( best hospital).But stating all all this , there are good doctors in India too who has service in their mind first and payment 2nd. Here USA has got good insurance scheme .My student in Bangalore, was diagnosed with brain AVM( complicated), when admitted in a best hospital in Bangalore. Even after the surgery , first they said ,now the patient is normal. After 6 months, they are saying operation has to be done again. Ok fine, it is a tough operation . atleast they could have little empathy when they told this. The mother told , they were talking like a repair of a machine .

Viswamitra · May 26, 2017

justanothergirl said: ↑

@Viswamitra ..glad ur wife is doing well. The human touch...thats what u were missing.
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The funny part is, it is the surgeon who said their moto is "To make everyone see better". Everyone else in the hospital were nice but operated like raw material store, production facility, quality assurance, packaging, etc. I am not sure anyone there is trained to be like a first respondent in a crisis or emergency. When the patient's name is called out by a nurse, she checks the wrist band, ask the patient to confirm the name verbally and which eye is being operated. Everything appeared mechanical.

Viswa