1/ THREAD: VIP Patients

We can& #39;t let patients buy special treatment. It privileges the white & wealthy.

In residency, when I wouldn& #39;t provide unwarranted treatment, a “VIP" patient brought me to tears, yelling and asking where I went to med school.

#TipsForNewDocs
#medtwitter
2/
Every hospital I’ve worked or trained in has a special floor where patients can spend thousands of dollars to get “better” treatment.

They are given rooms with wooden panelling, gourmet meals, and attentive nursing care.

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/26/opinion/hospitals-red-blanket-problem.html?_r=0

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/2... href="https://twitter.com/ShoaClarke">@ShoaClarke
3/
Allocate your time based on patients’ clinical severity, NOT their social standing.

Don& #39;t give VIPs any more of your time or brain space than other similarly sick patients. It is inequitable and unethical to do so.
4/
Never suffer alone!

If asked to spend longer than average or provide care that doesn’t feel “right”:

1. stay calm

2. say that you feel uncomfortable, ask to leave the room

3. escalate - either to your attending, hospital leadership, or the ethics committee
5/
For patients that are philanthropic donors, distinguish between their donations and your doctor-patient relationship.

“Your donations are valuable to our institution. I want you to know that I won’t let that interfere with the care I provide for you."
6/
For patients who like to be involved (including docs), be very transparent.

I like to open their records in front of them and go over them together.

I ask: "Is there anything you want to make sure we don’t miss?”
7/
We know that disparities in hospitals already exist that disproportionately hurt BIPOC -- even without rich, white peoples’ abilities to buy different standards.

https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1161/CIRCHEARTFAILURE.119.006214

https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/abs/1... href="https://twitter.com/eberly_lauren">@eberly_lauren
@AaronRichterman
@michellemorse
8/
Health disparity researchers @BrighamWomens showed that if you were Black or LatinX & presented with heart failure, you were more likely to be admitted to our fancy cardiology wing, where you had better treatment and heart failure outcomes than on a general medicine service.
9/
Knowing about baseline disparities, how can we, in good conscience, allow rich white people to buy their way into *explicit* bias that favors them?
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