Frank Gagnon Primary Care

Case Analysis: Frank Gagnon
1) There was an evident lack of communication between Mr. Gagnon and each of his healthcare providers/staff. His primary care physician never informed him of the reason that necessitated Frank’s visit to a cardiac specialist. If Frank were apprised of the urgency of the situation, he could have made some arrangements with either relatives or through his insurance company for transportation, living accommodations, etc. for him and his wife. This is, of course, assuming he has insurance; he probably qualifies for Medicare given that he held a job for over 45 years and is currently retired. Now, at the specialist’s office, Frank is informed that he needs to undergo a ‘special’ procedure at a different location, for which he is not told the name of or the cost or
the potential complications.
The place where Mr. Gagnon had his blood drawn was different from the place where he would undergo the procedure. When the couple finally arrived at their last destination (the main campus), the records were obviously not transferred properly as Mr. Gagnon had to fill the staff in on information that he himself was probably unclear about! Not only that, but Frank was not informed that he would be classified as an inpatient admission for this procedure, and so would need to stay for a longer period of time – neither were subsidized accommodations provided to him, by the hospital or his insurance company. His wife should have been allowed to stay with him on the hospital premises, since they did not have any nearby relatives and the wife was uncomfortable driving in a new city alone. His maintenance checkups will be back in Portland, for which he will need help coordinating transportation for, but the hospital seems to think the responsibility rests solely on his
shoulders, and no one else’s.
2) Firstly, I would recommend that the healthcare organizations have a more streamlined electronic health record system; of course, there are several difficulties in the actualization of this, due to vested interests on part of various EMR companies. Once this has been achieved or at least some adjustment to the current system that allows for a more fluid transfer of records, it will be easier for providers to accurately and cooperatively convey the appropriate, relevant information to Mr. Gagnon so that he may coordinate medical services with the parties assisting him. Secondly, in a larger city like Portland, one would assume that medical facilities offer comprehensive services – for example, the main campus where Frank had his catheter put in would probably have a pathology/lab for blood draws of all inpatients. Redirecting every admission to a separate facility is not only time-consuming for the patient and providers alike, but also a profligate use of resources, and causes more congestion in hospital admissions and an invariable delay in healthcare delivery. Lastly, the PCP and hospital administrators should have made an attempt to determine Mr. Gagnon’s insurance status and/or eligibility and redirected him to the proper resource for future visits.