“We have to be patient”-Emergency room doctor

Word of the day: “Tramitologia”-To have all the paperwork signed and approved by hospital and health insurance officials so that you can get the care your medical condition requires.

So here is the countdown:

One open heart-surgery- my uncle

One emergency hospitalization due to a drug interaction-my uncle

One diabetic coma-My father’s girlfriend’s father (say that fast three times)-Don Adriano

One cytology- my uncle

One tracheotomy- Don Adriano

One prostate surgery- my uncle

One death- Don Adriano

Time lapse: three weeks

This is the reason I did not start the blog as soon as I arrived as planned. I instead got a crash course in emergency medicine Colombian style. Now I have always believed based upon my own experience that medicine in Colombia is good if not better than in the US. Here doctors actually listen to you, spend the time to get to know you and become family confidants. They find ways to treat you the best way possible with the least cost without making you feel like a number. Then again I have always-paid cash, and did not have to deal with insurance payments.

So it should not be a surprise that all over the world over insurance companies are shits. Add to it the Colombian sense of paranoia and you have a system that requires your whole afternoon for a simple appointment. You have so many checks and balances that the ping pong you have to do across the vast hospitals burns all the calories ingested in your arepa binge in the morning. All designed so that no one cheats the system.

First the doctors order, then the insurance verification of the doctors order, next the hospitals verification of the doctors order, a insurance approval of the doctors order, the doctors appointment is confirmed, the insurance confirms the doctors appointment, the hospital confirms both prior insurance and doctors separate confimals (sp?) and then adds its’ own. That is just for the appointment, if you need a bed, a surgery, or special care you must start from zero. All the while you go from office to office keeping a positive attitude, a polite manner, and infinite patience. Hoping that the next step will be resolved right away as you wait in line after line, watching the clock making sure you arrive before lunch or closing time. Knowing that your loved one is waiting ill in a room for the paperwork to get done as to get the treatment they need. It is needless to say stressful, crazy-making and frustrating.

Oh and did I mention that during the tramitologia you are accompanied by every family member who is not waiting with the sick person. You walk up and down stairs with a posee of minimum five per ill person. So every office, hallway and waiting room is filled to the brim with people waiting. The tension, the hushed tones, the cries, all the bloody waiting!