It's been a month now undergone different diagnosis in UCI... Saw almost two full hands of various therapists and physicians in different departments, and took dozens of blood tests, audible test, CT-Scan, PET-Scan, X-Ray, and MRI. Now, of course, I learnt what they all do and how they all perform in the medical side. But, these caused me more anxiety and frustration which I don't need. Before each examination, the hospital administration office has prior made approval requests to the insurance company. And when you look at the claim details, the dollars amount's drop-dead scary. That's only a tiny part of the horror. If a treatment was previously approved for a facility, the insurance company will not approve the same treatment plan again for another facility but to ask for a transfer request. And that process could take days or even weeks. In between hospitals, patient's medical record transfer is a hassle (not limited to filing procedure, but also in formatting and so forth).
Other than the external ecosystem, I also found the communication between departments within the same hospital is very poor. Even within the department, physicians may have a completely different perspective about a treatment plan. The most painful thing is the conflict of information about my daily care. In each day, I will receive calls from different departments for scheduling consultation and examination. To me, I think UCI has done a pretty good job in coordination and administrating their good database infrastructure. But, the communication between therapists and me the patient is not competent. I do feel like living in darkness like a lab rat laying on the table's being worked on. Maybe, it's just my communication skill. Or perhaps English is not my mother tongue causing the discretion, but frankly speaking, I didn't think this is the case here. On the internet, there's also a lack of trustful source for me to understand my condition and how to receive the best medical care I can. Fortunately, my close circle of friends reaches out to their networks to gather references for me to make a better quality decision.
Therefore, I paid a visit to the City of Hope (Duarte), one of the top US Cancer Hospitals ranked by US News in 2016 for a 2nd consultation. In there, at my 1st consultation session, I immediately acknowledged the professionalism, passionate and cares from their doctors. And from how the doctors diligently operated the nasal endoscope to examine me, you can tell they are very well trained to handle their daily tasks and have years of experience. They're very informative and provided very details abt the treatment plan and my condition. Also, their nurse practitioners are knowledgeable, and administrate their works very carefully. Even still, no one is perfect. Their system infrastructure and facility may not be a state of the art but do its things. Contrarily, I do feel like their budget well allocated to where it shall be, but not wasting on some fancy waiting rooms or valet parking service.
At the end, it's a very tough decision to make where I shall receive my treatment. After a thorough discussion with my circle, I choose the City of Hope over UCI. Wishfully, with their professionalism and experience, my disease will be completely cured. I know this journey ain't easy, but I have confidence that I will recover.
PS. With this opportunity, I strongly encourage VCs and other entrepreneurs look into this field and area bc there are full of potentials to create a new market and do good deeds for the society.