Like many of us Baby Boomers, I am engaged in the care regime for my aged mother – she turns 93 this spring and is not happy about it! While my mother is basically extremely healthy for her age, events such as a fall can easily result in a trip to the emergency room, and ultimately, admission to hospital for a short stay while the medical people try to figure out what happened and why. Since Christmas, my three siblings and I have had two such hospital encounters with a couple of Toronto’s great hospitals. In both cases the outcomes were positive and my mother carries on until the next little crisis.
As a strong believer in universal health care I count my blessings every time I access the health care system. However, early one Sunday morning as my sister and I waited for over three hours to “catch” the doctors on their rounds, it struck me that the system only works as well as it does because of the countless hours of time families (supplemented by private paid resources if families are lucky enough to be able to afford it) contribute. Between the four siblings, we accumulated 32 to 40 hours during each hospital stay just hanging around the hospital, waiting for doctors or tests. At a modest professional person’s billing rate of $150 per hour our wait time added $4800 to $6000 to whatever the hospital was spending. Then count the 8 days of wages for the private PSW we hired to sit with Mum to help her when none of us could be there due to work commitments. We’re lucky to be sharing the load, but many people have to provide this kind of support for a parent or family member alone.
How cool would it be if the hospital had an app to help families manage their hidden costs? Imagine if you could check your iPad for the doctor’s estimated arrival time on your loved ones floor – like the signs in the subway that tell you when the train will arrive. Now that would be patient and family centred health care!
