Back to Work and Pre-Op

Today was the first day back to work after Christmas. It is always a bit shocking (or change of state-ish as Travis says) to return after a few days off. I had a very productive day, and I also got my pre-op visit done. I have to say that the medical world as a patient is a very messy world. I never cease to be shocked by all that goes on.

Today, I had the job of having my information put into the hospital application. Since it didn't go so well, I am thankful it wasn't the software I work on. She went through and asked me all of these questions, and then she saved. I watched as I was curious of the interface. It was very thorough, but it was cumbersome. She couldn't go through the list as a typical nurse would ask questions. She was forced through some odd items. However, since this is what I do, I was entertained. However, she then was kicked out of the application. She could not log back in. She tried and she tried and she tried and she tried. No luck. Of course, the Anesthesiologist then comes in and can't access ANY of the info that was just put into the application. So, she starts ALL over again on paper. They never could get my information back, so the nurse had to put it all in again. Of course, this is my fourth time having surgery at this hospital for kidney stones, so it is pretty embarrassing that they can't just pull up my info from last time. They did have some cool new handprint gadget for accessing your records. And they did have a signature capture device for the consents. However, all bonus points for those was evaporated by the rest. The nurse said that every afternoon the application goes down. The anesthesiologist said that every afternoon the application goes down. Hmmm...I am sensing a pattern. This software happened to be by a company that starts with a C. I did laugh that the nurse said that she heard that it was the cheapest software available and that is why they have it. I have a feeling that most users have no idea the expense in software, training, maintenance, etc that it takes to get an enterprise system going and to get it working properly. I guess it is all a matter of perpective, but it was interesting to be on the end user side. My urologist uses the software that I work on, and it is always interesting to see them use it. It makes me think that I should go on a road show as a patient at several practices that use our software to see what happens!

Of course, getting this lithotripsy scheduled has been a bear, and even today they said that they would call me on Friday to let me know the time!