I’m calling it my Olivia Dunham from the alternate Fringe universe ‘do. (Taken with instagram)
Author Archives: aubs
You’ll get medical care, but you’ll have to pay your own hard-earned money for service…
Buddy, my 5 year old never-been-sick dog, who likes swimming and rabbits, was on death’s door on Tuesday morning. He’d had diarrhea for a few days and then stopped eating and drinking. His eyes were so red they were almost bloody. His temperature was 105. He couldn’t walk.
I was out of town in Houston. Kiley, who watches Buddy when I’m traveling, called me crying (she loves him so much). I told her to take him to the vet. She did. As I was heading to the airport to come back to NYC, the vet called and told me that Buddy was very, very sick and needed to go to the ER. He thought Buddy looked septic (an overwhelming bacterial blood infection) and he was very worried. Kiley rushed him to the dog ER in Cobble Hill. She called just a few minutes before my plane took off. She said they estimated a likely low end cost and a high end cost for Buddy’s care. At the low end, it was going to be $2200 for 3 nights of hospitalization, IV fluids, antibiotics, and everything else they needed to do. At the high end, it was estimated to cost $3400. They needed my card to guarantee at least the low end cost of his care. So my card was charged $2200.
Buddy made a fairly remarkable turnaround. His diagnosis: Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, a tick-borne infection that sometimes causes a very quick demise with systemic vasculitis. I have no idea how he got a tick infected with Rickettsia rickettsii, he hasn’t been outside of Brooklyn for two months and I’ve never found a tick on him in his life. His blood vessels all over his body were wildly inflamed. Poor guy. He was super sick, miserable, and in massive pain.
But throughout the entire experience, the vet called me with every new detail keeping me up to date on every new development from blood tests to vitals to changes in his clinical appearance.
The entire relationship between me and the vet was based on communication and customer service.
At the end, the bill was itemized and totaled $1800. I got a refund of $400.
The difference between dog care and human care is:
I’m the customer.
I’m paying out of my own pocket for care, I’m paying for service, and I could just as easily go somewhere else next time Buddy needs good care. But, of course, the next time Buddy gets sick, I know that VERG will take super good care of Buddy and make sure they’re giving me the best service imaginable.
Someone (update: it was blue_beetle) once said “if you’re not paying for something, you’re not the customer; you’re the product being sold.”
This is the future of medical care in America. Sure, we’ll get access to some care, but we’ll have to pay for attentive service, communication, meaningful relationships, and an overall great experience. There will soon be a widening gap between two American healthcare experiences:
- The insurance company is the customer. This will be the dominant experience for most people because service, communication, and relationships will be too expensive. Insurance companies will pay the bare minimum to ensure you are one of the 40 patients your doctor will see that day. This is unsafe and inhumane.
- You are the customer. This will be the ideal experience and will be expensive. You’ll have insurance, but you’ll also pay your own hard-earned cash for communication and customer service. You’ll be one of 10-15 patients your doctor sees that day. But you’ll also have a doctor that personally knows you and cares for you.
My entire career has been based on inspiring a better patient experience from my first practice to Hello Health, and to my latest projects I’ll be talking about soon. From the very beginning, I’ve fought to put the patient at the center of the experience and have built a few companies making sure this happened.
But it’s just so sad that often times dogs get better service than humans in America. Buddy is fortunate—he’s got an owner who can afford good care. But shouldn’t we all be able to afford good care? We spend almost $3 trillion a year on medical care. Where’s the value we’re getting from all this money? Shouldn’t we demand better?
Jay again hits home why our healthcare system is so messed up. Also, I am SOOOO relieved that Buddy – only the second best dog alive – is ok. I do love that pup.
Wondering how many more years it will take for me to not know what I did on this day two years ago. May never fully get over it, but can move on.
Me & @LilaBelle chilling in Washington Square Park for North Beach Festival (Taken with instagram)
Sleep No More, or What I Did on my (Pseudo-)Summer Vacation
Last week I went to Sleep No More, a [play? interactive experience? craziest thing I’ve ever experienced?] that I first heard about from my friend Jay, though has apparently been all the rage amongst the NYC scene. (He had gone once before and ended up in the same group as a very preggo Natalie Portman and her fiance. If it’s good enough for them, figured I could swing it.) Actually, his description of it sounded absolutely bizarre and frankly, a little scary. So of course as I was planning what I wanted to do while in New York for my birthday it was on the agenda. Facing my fears and all that adult shit.
It didn’t disappoint. We had the latest Friday night showing, and upon entering they took my purse. As in coat-checked it, which was basically mandated by the show’s organizers. Ladies, there is nothing more disconcerting than having a total stranger cut the handbag umbilical cord, especially knowing that you’re about to get separated from your date and wander around in an eerie room wearing an Eyes Wide Shut mask for the next three hours. (Visions of “Socialites Perish in Faux-Hotel Fire: Was it a Sex Ring?” headlines tormented my imagination.) But I’m getting ahead of myself here, aren’t I?
We all were given a playing card; Jay’s was 13 and mine was the Joker. (We we in for a real-life OAR song?) We then walked, very haunted-house style, in the dark and descended upon a maroon lounge adorned in 30’s-style decor. They were calling people in groups based on their playing card, but lucky us, we were both wild. (The irony is not lost on me.) After quickly downing a drink (courage!) we all received a white, pointy-faced mask (my Eyes Wide Shut reference), followed an attendant into an elevator and told very clearly that there would be NO TALKING. Shushing happened (there were a few drunkos) and we began our ascent to the 5th floor where we were very firmly told to get out and begin to explore.
I suppose I should stop here to note that I knew very, very little about this experience going in; I was aware that I would likely get separated from Jay (happened within five minutes), that there was no talking and that we should be very curious, going into the multiple rooms making up the “McKittrick Hotel”, picking up and examining objects and try to figure out what was happening. I also had heard that there was an orgy-slash-abortion/birth scene, based only on the fact I had previously instructed how to get fake blood off of Jay’s white pants a few weeks back. (Lestoil & cold water, soak for hours, and soak some more. Sue Sabala’s secret to the Universe.) So I walked out of the elevator somewhat apprehensively and found myself in what appeared to be a hospital ward for an insane asylum. There was a man in another room cleaning out a bloodstained outfit in a bathtub and when I turned down a hospital bed, it was full of potatoes. Next to the bed was the doctor’s notes; you could read about the patient and even open drawers and wander through five or six floors at your leisure. A scavenger’s (and voyeur’s) dream.
After about twenty minutes of self-exploration (and not the type that will make you blind nor discover unresolved Daddy issues), the show began. Because there is no one experience here, I can only say that I started witnessing scenes from the show (the actors were not wearing masks) and that we could follow them to try and discern what was happening by their interactions with other actors & actresses. Some people followed one actor; others would watch a scene for a while before moving on to another one in a different part of the ‘hotel’. I did a little of both, especially when I found the hot young philandering husband of a very pregnant woman who was also involved in a tryst with a nubile young asian woman. You know, art imitating life. There were a few times during the nearly three hours where it seemed that all (or the majority?) of the people in my group convened in a large room in the basement for a few of the more pinnacle moments of the night.
By the time it was finished, I was emotionally (and physically; I ran up and down countless flights of stairs) exhausted. (My three hours of sleep the evening prior didn’t help this much.) But also exhilarated and still thoroughly confused. I had heard it referenced Macbeth but it’s been far too long since I’ve caught up on my Shakespeare that I just kept trying to discern the plot when actually only catching bits and pieces of the scenes. For those of you needing to make sense of everything from limited information, this may very well drive you crazy.
Overall, it was incredible. I was amazed by the level of detail & attention that went in to each and every room as well as the choreography of the actors. I was never scared, though it was eerie and unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. Far less haunted house and much more suspense drama. (Though, wuss that I am, made Jay promise me that nobody would be jumping from behind a corner to scare the daylights out of me. No screams were heard, if that eases anybody’s fears.) I welcomed my cocktail afterwards as I compared experiences with my friend, who of course had a totally different experience than I did. Upon leaving (and successfully retrieving my lifeline, err, purse/phone), I walked away into a summer downpour wanting to read every review on the show (which I still have yet to do; wanted to write this first without being affected) and pick up the Classics. Oh, and wanting to go back for another round of insanity. Toil & trouble, indeed.
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Addendum: Just read the following artices: NY Times & Forbes. Both provide a better overall picture of the experience (and I’d hope are somewhat of a compliment to my ramblings above) but they fail to mention my exclusive: drunken people like making out in faux-macabre hotels in Chelsea. Those hospital beds I mentioned above apparently were put to multiple uses.
Sleep No More has been extended through September, and you can bet your ass I’ll be another guest in the McKittrick hotel once again (horizontal hospital bed mambo notwithstanding.)
As he often does, Jay brings up a great point and as an employee at Facebook (and someone who loves and has lived in her current neighborhood for five years), I share his sentiments. I’d LOVE to see this happening…wonder if there’s something that I can help push forward.
via jayparkinsonmd:
This bothers me. Facebook is doing a great job connecting our disconnected lives. But’s it’s doing a horrible job connecting us to the people who live next door. I’ve had this idea for quite some time that Facebook should automate a process that allows us to “fan” the block that we live on, if we want to, so we can connect with our neighbors. If anyone can nail hyperlocal and bring neighborhoods closer together, it’s Facebook— they’ve got the profiles. But it just doesn’t seem that this is on their list of priorities. I’d like to see neighbors come together for block parties, neighborhood watches, clean-ups, etc.. I’d like to see the internet used to make your immediate environment a better, safer, and healthier place to live. I’d like to see Facebook introduce me to new people who live right down the street who just may be interested in the same things I’m interested in.
Also, don’t forget to follow Pew on tumblr.
New research on social networking sites
We have a brand-new report out today that starts to explore the social impact of widespread use of social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, and Twitter. By the numbers:
- 79% of American adults use the internet, and 59% of online adults use at least one social networking site.
- Among social networking site users in 2010, 92% are on Facebook; 29% use MySpace, 18% used LinkedIn and 13% use Twitter.
- Specifically looking at Facebook, then, we found that the average Facebook user has 229 Facebook friends. The chart above shows the breakdown of those relationships.
- The average age of adult social networking site users has shifted from 33 in 2008 to 38 in 2010.
The report looks at how people’s trust, personal relationships, and civic and political involvement are connected to their use of social network sites and other technologies. A few of the headlines:
- The average user of a social networking site has more close ties and is half as likely to be socially isolated as the average American.
- Internet users get more support from their social ties, and Facebook users get the most support.
- Facebook users are much more politically engaged than most people.
- MySpace users are more likely to be open to opposing points of view.
Preventing having my heart broken for the third time results in me essentially breaking it myself. A subtle form of masochism, I suppose.
Go to Wikipedia and click “random article.” This is the name of your genitals.
epic:
swid:
Coquelicot Daaamn, I got some fancy french ass flowers genitals.
“Girl wait ‘til you see my 1990 NHL Supplemental Draft”
Doubting Thomas. Be honest, I have the best one.
Top Gear: Polar Special. I dunno, Sarah. Mine’s special.
Otago Sparks. BAM. I win the Internet with THAT bad boy right there.
The future’s so bright… (Taken with instagram)
In my humble opinion, this is the funniest thing on Twitter, and the funniest thing I have seen all week.
I love it so so so so so so much. I can’t get enough.
;lkjasd;fgkjasd;fds must-follow
OMG. LOVE. IT.
AubreySabala.com 