19 Comments

I hope you are consulting with the new administration, you are uniquely qualified to bring the necessary reforms, CMS payment withholding as lever to enforce rational policy is a good example. You could also help the FDA build towards an ‘all cause mortality/morbidity’ centered study design process. NIH will play its role here too. This could help with deeper investigations of causative factors in our chronic disease crisis. So much that only you can help us with Vinay. Strike while the iron is hot!

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His name has been submitted

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I just wish more people would say no. I understand it’s hard to be a patient, etc, but what if half of the people scheduled for surgery just said NO because I want to see my loved ones during my visit/it’s critical to my wellness? What if nearly every maternity patient said NO-I need my family here & want my young children to see their sibling? What if the seniors all decided seeing their grandchildren and/or family group after surgery was critical & rescheduled their joint replacements elsewhere? How long would the policy last?

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An interesting thing to watch in L&D is how hard nurses push to get every mom hooked up to a fetal monitor. Know why? Cuz they can sit back at the nurses station and watch 20 screens instead of walking around. And this policy feeds that same laziness. Make it hard for families to visit, and they won't. Make it impossible for some people even to get through the door, and you have fewer people to deal with. Make it impossible for a single family member to keep track of what's going on with his criticall ill mother, without depriving another family member of a seat at the bedside, and you can lazy-*ss your way through patient "care" with impunity. The whole corona experience taught hospitals that they can do whatever the heck they want, and patients (except in Florida) can't/won't fight back. Why *wouldn't* they take advantage of their ability to be lazier and less monitored?

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Funny bc as an LD nurse I put my patients on telemetry monitors and encourage them to move around....please dont confuse public health with those of us working hard to take good care of patients. What a bizarre way to begin your comment.

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Speaking from experience and from the experience of fellow patients. Obviously not every bad characteristic of medical professionals is true of all. I've seen some bad stuff, and when hospitals (or any organizations) *can* get away with less, they generally will.

I do know that when we took the L&D tour at the first hospital we considered for our birth, the head nurse made a big point about the importance of the "labor bed" and how some people want to get up, but realistically, you'll "surrender your underwear" (literally her words) and be in the "labor bed" until the baby has been born. Large hospital in a major US city.

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From what I’ve seen over the last couple years it seems like the vaccinated are more likely to contract/spread Covid.

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Many folks either trained at Duke or still there in staff slots in the medical field have long held a Very HIgh Opinion of their own ideas, reasoning skills, and policy decisions. Save your energy.

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Duke = arrogance

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Keep requiring data! This is the problem. These policies will be translated into de facto realities that don’t actually have any proof behind them. People will assume proof because prestigious institutions follow these policies.

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It's cute seeing these policies getting critical attention in 2025. It's like watching a toddler take its first steps.

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I cannot believe we are back here. Has there been no learning? By the supposedly brightest minds in medicine? Seriously!!

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Hospitals are a unique place. Only patients are getting charged for admittance however, many other people are coming and going and using the facilities. What is the risk from the non-patient? Is the risk infectious disease? Violence? Interruption of workflow? A patient is dying in one room and Brahms lullaby is playing overhead because a baby has just been born in L&D. Very strange place to be. so much joy and sadness altogether.

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Reading this gave me PTSD- type feelings. In October of 2020 I suffered a ruptured cerebellar aneurysm that necessitated an emergency craniotomy. My hospital had a rigid no visitors policy- not even my colleagues were allowed in the ICU unless there to Preop or transport patients to the OR. The isolation and fear I felt are still difficult to talk about. It was barbaric. Keep up the good fight on this VP. We can’t go back to that degree of crazy.

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Ha! And to think these same “policy wankers” remain dumbstruck on why Trump won. Karma’s a Bitch. Just keep following your "Science" you morons!

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I should clarify-maternity patients-expecting moms just said NO & went elsewhere.

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Every winter respiratory illnesses increase. The ER would have patients lined up on gurneys in the hallways. Sometimes they would go on divert. The only difference now is that public health and the hospital policy people have license to impose the failed COVID policies. Do a RCT, introduce the policy on one floor and not on another, provided the patient population is relatively homogeneous between them. Have the social workers interview the patients and their families about how supportive they are of the policy and how much it might affect morale. Include that with data on nosocomial infection rates. I’ll bet it’s all negative. Theater!

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Hmmmm. Seems like “DUHS” is the perfect initialization. Homer Simpson would be proud.

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The merry-go-round continues: Drs, nurses and the public believe that these policies must be helpful or the hospitals wouldn't be implementing them. Therefore, there is no pushback and the merry-go-round continues.

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