My mother who is nearing eighty had to undergo a pacemaker implant operation recently. Couple of weeks later a close friend’s dad had a similar operation. My mother had to stay in the hospital for over a week post surgery .My friend’s dad in Chennai was released in a couple of days. No wonder so many patients flock to Chennai from across India to undergo treatment. The systems and processes are extremely efficient. Of course my mother had other complications as well which might have forced her to remain at the hospital for a longer period.
On the flipside the doc who operated on my mother recited poems from Tagore while on the job .My mother who was in her senses during the operation was delighted and blessed the doctor twice over. It was like a poetic journey at the operation theatre. The doc said this was his way of relaxing the patient. It is unusual to find a doctor who can combine art and science with such ease. Whenever I think of all the inefficiencies faced by us at the hospital I think of the doctor who had made my mother happy and I tend to overlook the other not so memorable factors.
A doctor friend of mine wanted to know which brand of pacemaker we had used. Obviously I had to check before letting him know. He was quite shocked at my ignorance. Now to a layman what difference does it make .Generally relatives of patients have to depend on doctors and hospital authorities to decide on such matters. Such operations do not happen every other day and family members have no reason to investigate matters which are generally alien to them and beyond their comprehension.
However we were advised to buy directly from the company which meant paying much less than what we would have paid if billed through the hospital. This suited us perfectly. The only hitch in such an arrangement is that you have to pay immediately and you must be ready with large amounts of cash in your account. This might be quite impossible for most middle class families in India .The hospital or doctor never even asked us once whether we were ready with cash .They simply assumed and informed us that this was an emergency and had to be done.
On the flipside the doc who operated on my mother recited poems from Tagore while on the job .My mother who was in her senses during the operation was delighted and blessed the doctor twice over. It was like a poetic journey at the operation theatre. The doc said this was his way of relaxing the patient. It is unusual to find a doctor who can combine art and science with such ease. Whenever I think of all the inefficiencies faced by us at the hospital I think of the doctor who had made my mother happy and I tend to overlook the other not so memorable factors.
A doctor friend of mine wanted to know which brand of pacemaker we had used. Obviously I had to check before letting him know. He was quite shocked at my ignorance. Now to a layman what difference does it make .Generally relatives of patients have to depend on doctors and hospital authorities to decide on such matters. Such operations do not happen every other day and family members have no reason to investigate matters which are generally alien to them and beyond their comprehension.
However we were advised to buy directly from the company which meant paying much less than what we would have paid if billed through the hospital. This suited us perfectly. The only hitch in such an arrangement is that you have to pay immediately and you must be ready with large amounts of cash in your account. This might be quite impossible for most middle class families in India .The hospital or doctor never even asked us once whether we were ready with cash .They simply assumed and informed us that this was an emergency and had to be done.
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