Miller children's hospital

May 9th

After seeing so many differences between health care in the USA and the Netherlands, it's nice to see some similarities! Pediatric oncology care in the USA is rather comparable to the care in the Netherlands. Of course there are more patients in the USA, but the number of available beds are comparable, and the same accounts for the treatment and outcome.

Miller children's hospital is a wonderful building. Of course private money/ charity made it possible to build it.

Take a quick look at the poster above. Is it not strange that these kind of posters are actually necessary in a civilized country? Of course you treat every patient: you have sworn the oath of Hippocrates! By the way, hospitals are obliged to treat patients, but MD's aren't. Doctors can refuse to treat a patient if the think that they won't make enough money when treating him or her.

Take a closer look at the poster. You have the right to be stabilized.....

Mother's day

May 8th

It's mother's day and a present has been sent home....

San Diego

May 7th

We visited San Diego, a large city in the South of California. Our visit started with a tour on the USS Midway, a 1000 feet log aircraft carrier, built in the 40's. It was really impressive to see the size of this ship. It really is a city on its own!

Afterwards we visited the city of San Diego itself and we had lunch there. The afternoon was for shopping. We had to buy presents for our loved ones t home, otherwise we will probably no longer be welcome at home....

A day of sightseeing

May 6th

The rotary club of Laguna beach was the concierge club today and they wanted to show us everything. We were driven around in a Cadillac and a Rolls....We visited the art galleries in the town, learned about its history and we saw a lot of beaches.............

Health care

May 5th

Today I spoke with a MD working for Kaiser Permanente, which is a HMO. When you are insured by Kaiser, you will be treated in hospitals and by MD's working for Kaiser. Th e HMO is well known for its quality and is less expensive than other forms of insurance.
Problems that we encounter in medicine in the Netherlands, are often the same problems as in the USA: the increase in the number of patients that turn towards alternative healers and the externalisation of all kind of problems. The fact that malpractice lawsuits are so common, is possibly partly explained by the fact that it is believed that everything has a cause and could have been avoided if somebody had made a different choice....To give an example, if your child is diagnsoed with autism at the age of 6 years, many people believe that it is not fate, but more likely the fact that complications occurred during the delivery. As a consequence, the MD is sued. Could this be the reason for the high number of C-sections: to prevent complications during a vaginal delivery?

The medical health care system and why it doesn't work anymore

May 4th

Today I spoke to an adminstrator of one of the hospitals in California. He did a very good job in explaining me the history of the health care system in the USA.
In 1965 it was decided that the elderly (65 years and older) and the disabled would receive medical care by a system called Medicaid. This is a federal system, which has different names in different states. In California it is called Medicare. All employees pay a contribution to Medicare and when they turn 65 and need medical care, Medicare will pay. In 1965 a total number of 8 employees paid money to this system, to give health care to one elderly. Life expectancy was about 69 years. Nowadays, 70% of people who are 65+, eventually reach the age of 90. Moreover, the ratio employee/ elderly is nowadays 2-3:1. This means that the Medicare system will soon get broke. The state has lowered the amount of money that is paid for the diagnostic and therapeutic interventions in the hospitals. The amount of money paid is even lower than the actual costs. Because the hospitals need more money to survive, they charge patients with private insurance more money, to compensate for their losses. In return, the insurance companies will ask more money to their members. The fact that most insurance companies were taken over by private investors and the fact that only 85% of all the money in an insurance company has to be spent on medical care, aggravates the problems encountered. The fact that medical doctors get paid for eveything they do (CT-scans, bloodworks, etc.), makes that more tests are ordered. The fact that every medical doctor can be sued, even many years after he saw the patient, makes that most doctors practice a defensive kind of medicine in which even more tests are ordered, which will make health care even more expensive.
An 18-year-old girl who wants birth control, gets a breast examination, a mammogram and a PAP-smear, before she receives her receipe. All these diagnostics are performed, despite the fact that they are (in best) controversial all around the world.....

Dalai Lama

May 4th

Today we went to UC Irvine Bren Events Center, together with 6000 other people. We attended a lecture about Compassion and Leadership by the Dalai Lama. After a long period of waiting and after passing the security, we could enter the building. The Dalai Lama told us that he thinks that to many people are money-driven, probably because they think that money will make them happier. The most important message in my eyes: love your children and teach them to respect other people, who are 'different'. Our children can make a difference.

It was wonderful to see the Dalai Lama in person, hear him speak and experience his wisdom and humor.