Do No Harm 2nd. Cover your ass first.

First, do no harm. One of the famous lines in the Hippocratic oath. However in today's society especially in healthcare the motto is cover your ass first, Do no harm second. When did patient care take a back seat to, well almost everything when it comes to healthcare? Lets be real here for a second. Its the unspoken truth that no one wants to acknowledge that profits come way before patients. Its the giant elephant in the room that everyone in healthcare doesnt want to acknowledge is real, but it is. And those of us that straddle the fence between patient and advocate and healthcare worker see more than people realize. Some Doctors, definitely not all,  are actually in it to give the best care possible. Those are rare.  Ive met a few good ones in my healthcare journey. But there seem to be more bad than good doctors at times. Those are the cover your ass first, do no harm second types. Avoid those at all costs. Just like a bad date when you feel things go south with your provider start looking. Be your own advocate. Its better to get out sooner than later. Ive had my instances where I stayed on as a patient out of loyalty to a doctor that i should have walked away from long before I did. But back to the elephant in the room. I was recently scheduled for a procedure that I needed to do. Thanks to me winning the genetic Lottery with crappy health conditions. What seems like it should be something so simple turns into a three-ring circus so quickly. Because after your doctor orders the test. Then you have to convince the insurance company that you actually need it and convince them to pay for it. Which sometimes just convincing an insurance company that a test is necessary is like banging your head against a brick wall. They care about their money much more than they do about your health or anything that you need. Essentially the Daddy Warbucks of healthcare. Sitting atop their big pile of money not really caring about the consequences that affect patient's lives on the daily. So then you finally get scheduled after jumping through the 10,000 Hoops that the insurance company requires and Straight Out The Gate the hospital that you will be holding the procedure at send you an estimate for an ungodly amount. Where they expect their money up front. Essentially pay up or go kick rocks.  We all know times are tight right now. I love how hospitals think we just have thousands of dollars just laying in the bank to give to them for necessary tests that we need for diseases we did not ask for.   At the root of it all the problem is greed and money.  No one is held accountable in this pyramid scheme of healthcare. The one thing that has absolutely graded on my nerves since day one and it is the one thing that we have had nailed in our brain as healthcare workers is that patients are considered customers not patients. Where is the humanity in healthcare? Why are we so concerned with profits and not more concerned about the reason this whole institution was started in the first place, to help people. Without patients you have nothing. Healthy people don't make Healthcare money.  People should not have to render themselves bankrupt just to afford to attempt to be their healthiest version of themselves. Until we pull the Veil on this whole smoke and mirrors routine that is the business of healthcare unfortunately nothing will change. Insurance companies need to be held accountable for outrageous pricing and hospitals need to keep it reasonable. But trying to make people take accountability in healthcare is a battle that won't be won anytime soon.  The motto of healthcare should not be Do no harm. The Motto should be accountability we have none. Morals nonexistent. Profits? Our number one priority.