godfather of surgery

Chapter 1198 is actually just making the best of a bad situation.
On his way to work in the morning, Yang Ping passed by the emergency department, which was still bustling with activity. The emergency department is a 24-hour facility, year after year, day after day.

Back at the research institute, Yang Ping felt that it was much quieter than the emergency department; it was like two different worlds. Yang Ping admired the brothers in the emergency department, who endured high-intensity work and enormous psychological pressure every day while performing their work of saving lives.

Chief Resident Dr. Li came out sleepily. He had only slept for an hour that morning and had been working two consecutive all-nighters, both times being pulled away by the emergency department for consultations. Yesterday, he went to consult on several more patients and didn't sleep a wink all night. These past few days, the emergency department has been going crazy, constantly asking the research institute for more people.

But who hasn't been through this as a chief resident? Chief residents can't get a good night's sleep. Chief residents of research institutes are a bit better off; they won't be called in unless it's a special case. But if you're the chief resident of orthopedics, you'll definitely be so tired every day that your chest tightens, your breathing becomes rapid, your vision blurs, your head spins, and your limbs feel weak. In the end, you'll hang up the phone with a hoarse voice, and you'll still have to run around. That's what happens when you're the chief resident.

The intoxicated patient has fully sobered up; he was just drunk, his vital signs are very stable, and he is not in any danger. The female reporter, who had been making a scene all night, was also very tired.

In the morning, after the doctors and nurses finished their rounds, they told her that she could settle her bill and be discharged, as she was fine.

Despite her exhaustion, the female reporter's anger flared up again. It wasn't for any other reason than that she hadn't been taken seriously at the hospital and had been treated like an ordinary person. This was what she couldn't tolerate, so she found fault with everything she could to force the emergency department to give her and her husband special treatment, such as a private room and having doctors and nurses stay by their bedside at all times.

However, the emergency department did not meet any of her requests; in fact, they completely ignored them.

The female reporter collected information about the entire treatment process and wrote an article with pictures and text, which she was preparing to publish.

Of course, she wouldn't post based on facts; she's never had that habit. She only posts what she wants, simply to express her emotions, achieve her goals, and attract attention. Nothing else matters.

Her article roughly states that her family member came to the emergency department of Sanbo Hospital in critical condition, but the doctors and nurses ignored him and left him unattended until her husband woke up on his own. During this process, a so-called professor ignored her calls for help several times, showing utter disregard for life. She tried to take pictures with her phone multiple times, but the hospital doctors punched and kicked her, taking her phone and smashing it.

In the morning, several of her husband's subordinates received the news and immediately drove over to pick him up. As they were leaving, the female reporter took the opportunity to scold the doctor and nurses again.

The young woman, whose blood pressure dropped so low she almost went into shock, was questioned by the doctor several times before finally revealing that she had taken four nifedipine pills. The usual dose is one pill, which is 30 mg, but she took four pills at once, which is 120 mg, four times the normal dose. No wonder her blood pressure dropped inexplicably and she couldn't find the cause.

If it weren't for her large weight, those four Glucobay pills might have caused her to go into shock.

Her reason for taking the medication was simple: she believed that blood pressure medication could also lower blood lipids, so she decided to try it to see if it could lower her lipids. In her logic, lowering blood pressure can lower blood lipids, and lowering blood lipids can help with weight loss, so she started taking blood pressure medication.

Some things have no logic at all, so they cannot be explained by logic. They are just like that; they exist simply because they exist.

Actually, Yang Ping didn't find it too strange. After all, when he rotated through the emergency department before, he encountered many unbelievable things. Some patients' blood pressure soared to 200, but they just wouldn't lower it, saying that the doctor was trying to rip them off. They said they had anemia, which means they had too little blood, while high blood pressure means they had too much blood. This was contradictory. He said that even a three-year-old child knows this principle. It's impossible to have both high blood pressure and anemia at the same time. So he concluded that the doctor was trying to rip him off, and he was confident in his own health.

“Yesterday there was another patient with very serious external injuries. His spine was broken in half. I heard that when the goods were being unloaded, the steel coils on the truck rolled down and pressed directly onto his back. It pressed down on his thoracolumbar region, causing his upper and lower body to come together like hinges. His spinal cord was severely damaged. Dr. Tan performed the emergency surgery. When he came in, he looked quite shocking.”

Dr. Li gave a detailed report on some of the cases from last night.

The research institute is now independent. All the laboratories of Nandu Medical University have been combined to form the Academy of Medical Sciences. Therefore, the Academy of Medical Sciences is now at a higher level than Sanbo Hospital in terms of structure. However, because of the integration of scientific research and clinical practice, the research institute still needs to maintain close contact with Sanbo Hospital. The hierarchical structure has changed, but the relationship between them has not changed much in substance.

After all, the two institutions are together, and the research institute is a hospital within Sanbo Hospital. Many things cannot be completely separated from it, nor is it necessary to separate them.

"What a day yesterday! The emergency room was so busy, there wasn't a single easy case."

"I'm wondering the same thing, what happened yesterday?"

Everyone was talking excitedly. It was a rare opportunity to have a chat before the shift ended and relax a bit. But even while they were chatting, their hands didn't stop working.

"Please pay attention to your medical insurance records. Some diagnoses and treatments are not standardized. I have printed out the rectification suggestions on small slips of paper and put them in your records. There are also slips of paper indicating that no rectification is needed. If you don't have a slip of paper, come to me."

A female doctor wearing round black-rimmed glasses rushed in. She was Dr. Quan Xiaohui, the department's medical insurance specialist. She had only been there a short time and, in addition to her clinical work, also managed the department's medical insurance affairs.

Since the implementation of DRG payment, patients' diagnoses and treatments must comply with relevant medical insurance policies; otherwise, some will be charged, and some will be rejected by medical insurance. Therefore, familiarity with medical insurance rules is particularly important, otherwise it is easy to have money deducted from your paycheck.

Shortly after its implementation, many hospitals struggled to adapt. However, Sanbo Hospital adapted quite quickly. After several rounds of training led by Director Xia, all doctors and nurses became proficient in the new medical insurance policy. Furthermore, each department was assigned a highly specialized medical insurance specialist, so there were virtually no cases of deductions or refusal of payment due to unfamiliarity with the rules.

Everyone opened their medical record folders to find the small notes. Sister Quan's notes were very meticulous, pointing out which diagnoses did not comply with medical insurance standards, which might result in lower scores due to diagnostic issues, how to improve them, which medications did not meet medical insurance requirements, and providing compliant alternative medications.

Although it's a bit cumbersome, the management of medical insurance will eventually have to move from an extensive to an intensive model. With social development, this is inevitable. Whether we adapt or not, this is the trend.

After the morning shift handover, Dr. Quan spent another ten minutes learning about medical insurance. He emphasized that policies are very important, and that some doctors would lose money even after completing their work if they didn't understand the policies, which made some doctors feel very uncomfortable.

Some doctors have also started discussing these new policies privately, and everyone has their own opinions. Dean Xia also said that any reform will always have some people who are dissatisfied, but we cannot abandon reform just because of dissatisfaction. Whether a reform is good or not depends on whether it meets the interests of the vast majority of people.

Yang Ping didn't really understand these things either; he was just listening to everyone's discussions. Dr. Quan recorded everyone's comments so she could check if there were any areas for improvement in her work. She advised everyone to adapt to the rules as soon as possible.

"It's exhausting to be charged or refused payment for DRG if you're not careful. You have to pay attention to the details of DRG payment at all times while you're getting treatment."

Someone brought it up.

Dr. Quan said, "This is a matter of habit. Once you get used to it, you'll understand. In the future, everyone should cultivate their own lean mindset and change their previous careless habits."

Actually, that's how it is. You'll get used to it. There's no need to make a fuss, Yang Ping thought.

When the topic of medical insurance came up, Dr. Quan reported to Yang Ping on the progress of the department's centralized procurement of consumables. In fact, these were all under Song Ziming's control, but since Yang Ping was the director, Dr. Quan had to give him a symbolic report on the situation of medical insurance on a regular basis.

"Is centralized procurement good or bad? Many experts are saying that the quality of consumables procured through centralized procurement is very poor. But we use them normally and they are fine. We don't see why they are so bad."

"Well, different perspectives lead to different focuses. For patients, a stent used to cost tens of thousands of yuan, but now it costs a few hundred. Is that good or bad? And for doctors, is that good or bad?"

"While centralized procurement reduces costs, the quality of most items is certainly guaranteed. It is possible that a few items may experience a decline in quality, but this can be gradually improved in the future, and this problem will eventually be solved. Everything has its advantages and disadvantages, and it is impossible to be perfect in every aspect. It depends on which aspect is the most important. Overall, centralized procurement is definitely good. It has greatly reduced medical expenses and significantly reduced the financial burden on patients."

"For example, in orthopedics, it is very obvious. A steel plate used to cost tens of thousands of yuan, but now it costs several thousand or even several hundred yuan, which is a huge reduction in burden for patients."

"But for hospitals, this means a decrease in revenue."

"Hospitals are now returning to their public service nature; this is the trend."

Several doctors were discussing the topic in hushed tones. Song Ziming glanced at the time and said, "Alright, those who feel they are not familiar with the scoring rules should talk to Senior Sister Quan. There is no room for discussion on this. Everyone must master the scoring rules and be very familiar with them. We can't be foolish enough to have our money deducted or be refused payment just because we are not familiar with the rules. Meeting adjourned."

After the meeting, Yang Ping led the institute's doctors on rounds to see a patient with a cavernous hemangioma in the brainstem. This young patient was an international friend who had come from the United States after hearing about the institute's reputation. He was recovering very well after the surgery. Surgery for cavernous hemangiomas in the brainstem is inherently high-risk, and not many hospitals are capable of performing it. The location of this cavernous hemangioma was even more tricky and dangerous than in typical cases, and the blood vessels also had severe adhesions, making the surgery even more difficult.

Song Ziming did a good job; he was able to calmly complete the surgery successfully.

The research institute has a great reputation abroad, especially in Europe, America and Southeast Asia, and is particularly well-known among doctors. For example, neurosurgeons often recommend Sanbo Hospital in China when they encounter cases they cannot solve.

The conjoined twins are still undergoing rehabilitation treatment in the rehabilitation department. If the doctor hadn't instructed them to limit their activities, they would definitely be jumping around everywhere. Morris prepared a banner to present to Yang Ping's team, and he was quite pleased with himself for mastering Chinese culture so quickly.

When he took out the banner, everyone was stunned.

The design of this banner is exactly the same as Robert's, even the words on it are the same. Yang Ping still remembers that it was given by the father of a child with scoliosis, so the signature on the banner is also the same as it was back then. Morris doesn't understand what these words mean, he just knows that these words should be written on the banner, that's how it's done in America, and he just follows suit.

This is like how people in Europe and America like to print Chinese characters on their clothes. Using Chinese characters as patterns makes them seem cultured, but if you look closely at those characters, you'll definitely burst out laughing. For example, words like "antibiotics" and "security guard" don't mean anything to them. They probably just think the characters look nice and treat them as pictures, without considering the meaning of the words at all.

Yang Ping immediately recognized it as an American banner, because the words on American banners were the same: four large characters: "妙手回直" (Miao Shou Hui Zhi), signed by Cui Xubing and his son.

Previously, Yang Ping had never understood why the American banner was not "Miraculous Healing" but "Miraculous Straightening." Now he finally understood. It was because the person who presented the banner was the father of a child with scoliosis. Yang Ping had used surgery to help Xiao Cui's friend correct his curved spine. Xiao Cui's father, Cui Xubing, changed "Miraculous Healing" to "Miraculous Straightening" and signed it as "Respectfully presented by the Cui Xubing family."

The banner that Robert and August photographed was this one, and then, the story is quite simple: this banner, these four words, this name became part of the popular culture in the high-end medical community in Europe and America.

Everything became clear. It turned out that everyone had given this banner various interpretations. Some said it was a sign of miraculous healing, but the character for "spring" was deliberately written as "straight" or was misspelled. The inscription read "Respectfully presented by Cui Xubing and his family," implying that Cui Xubing had a deeper meaning. It was all just over-interpretation. In reality, it was just a mistake, and because it became popular, people just went with the flow and continued down the wrong path. There wasn't any profound intention behind it.

In the afternoon, Zhang Lin began releasing some internal information, saying that the female reporter who had caused trouble in the emergency department had been punished.

Things got a bit out of control. The female reporter's rumor was published in the morning, and she was placed under investigation in the afternoon, along with her husband, who was suspended from his duties and placed under investigation. News also started circulating that she had blocked the ambulance from leaving, seriously interfering with the hospital's emergency care, allowing everyone to understand the truth of that night. At the time, her husband was merely intoxicated, his vital signs were stable, and the doctors and nurses had handled the situation according to standard procedures, only not providing the special treatment she requested.

Xiong Shihai had reached his limit and, in order to control the situation as quickly as possible and maintain the smooth flow of emergency medical services, he snatched and smashed her phone. As for the consulting professor in the emergency department, she had not violated any rules at all. She was used to slandering others, and now she would pay the price for slandering Professor Yang.

In the end, many of her past slanders against others were exposed, and she and her husband were also found guilty of job-related crimes. Her fate was certainly not going to be good. It's just like the saying goes, "If you don't do stupid things, you won't die."