A Different Model

One of the wonderful discoveries on this Drifting through Dysautonomia is the amazing Cleveland Clinic.

Doctors work on a salary basis, rather than being paid by the number of patients they see in a day and the number of tests they order. This means that I have received excellent, patient-focused care without any urgency to leave the room or any additional, unnecessary medical procedures and expense.

I’ve had four appointments at Cleveland in the last few months; two virtual and two in-person. The in-person visits were scheduled for an hour.

Just in case you missed it, that was the time scheduled before I even walked into the room. ONE HOUR. Sixty minutes! There was no hurry. There was no rush. The doctors listened carefully, asked probing questions, and took their time. They reviewed options. They stopped to ask if WE had any questions and gave plenty of space to think through the issues. In all my years, I’ve never had care of this quality before.

Of course, there are barriers to attending this Ohio-based health care system. Perhaps the biggest is insurance. I’m lucky enough to have a plan that covers any care I need to receive across the country, but a trip to Cleveland from Indianapolis isn’t a simple drive down the road. This is especially true for someone with Dysautonomia where a five-and-a-half-hour car ride can send the nervous system into spasms. It requires a drive the day before appointments and a return trip the day after the appointments. In this most recent visit, it demanded that I take the following day off just to recover from the drive. All this travel includes the cost of a hotel room for two nights and all meals. Yes, this all adds to the cost of the event, above and beyond the expense of medical care and it isn’t an insignificant amount.

However, if you’ve been searching for answers to what has become a debilitating condition, you’ll spend whatever is required. Right?

And if you can get the highest level of care along the way, the expense is worth every penny.