{"id":20,"date":"2015-01-14T17:40:12","date_gmt":"2015-01-14T17:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stories.kera.org\/broken-hip\/?p=20"},"modified":"2015-04-07T15:42:54","modified_gmt":"2015-04-07T15:42:54","slug":"slipping-through-the-health-care-cracks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/the-broken-hip\/2015\/01\/14\/slipping-through-the-health-care-cracks\/","title":{"rendered":"Slipping Through The Health Care Cracks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Dan McCoy knows the health care system inside and out. He\u2019s a doctor, and chief medical officer of the biggest insurer in Texas, Blue Cross Blue Shield. But even he couldn\u2019t imagine what would happen after his dad fell and fractured his hip.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Dan McCoy used to tell his parents: When you live past 80, it\u2019s not the big things you have to worry about.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cIt\u2019s often not the cancer, [it\u2019s] the little things, the tripping, the falling,\u201d he said. \u201cIt seems like a simple thing, a broken hip, but it\u2019s not so simple.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><div id=\"attachment_138\" style=\"max-width:100%;  width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-138 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/stories.kera.org\/broken-hip\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2015\/01\/mccoy_family1-e1422917233730-300x217.jpg\" alt=\"  Bill McCoy, seated with his family, loved life on his Bosque County ranch. \u201cHe was a very rustic individual, worked hard,\u201d said his son, Dan McCoy. \u201c[He] literally ran the ranch.\u201d  Courtesy: McCoy Family \" width=\"300\" height=\"217\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/the-broken-hip\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2015\/01\/mccoy_family1-e1422917233730-300x217.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/the-broken-hip\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2015\/01\/mccoy_family1-e1422917233730-450x325.jpg 450w, https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/the-broken-hip\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2015\/01\/mccoy_family1-e1422917233730.jpg 573w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\"style=\"max-width:100%;  width: 300px\" >Bill McCoy, seated with his family, loved life on his Bosque County ranch. \u201cHe was a very rustic individual, worked hard,\u201d said his son, Dan McCoy. \u201c[He] literally ran the ranch.\u201d Courtesy: McCoy Family<\/p><\/div>So when he pulled up to his parent\u2019s ranch in central Texas last July after his dad took a fall, McCoy had a bad feeling the man he called \u201cdaddy Bill\u201d might never come home.<\/p>\n<p>Bill McCoy grew up in Bosque County. He spent much of his life on a ranch in the northern part of Texas Hill Country &#8212; he left to serve in World War II in the Army. He ran cattle into his 90s.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was a very rustic individual; he worked hard,\u201d Dan McCoy said. \u201cHe literally ran the ranch.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It was July 4 when McCoy picked up his father and drove him to an emergency room 30 miles away.<\/p>\n<p>McCoy figured it wouldn\u2019t be a problem to get his dad\u2019s hip diagnosed and treated fast.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xGNV6YsdctI\" width=\"320\" height=\"240\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>After all, he&#8217;s chief medical officer of one of the largest insurance plans in the country.<\/p>\n<p>He was wrong.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe problem is there\u2019s no surgeon on call, it\u2019s July 4th; that&#8217;s a Thursday,\u201d McCoy said. \u201cThere&#8217;s not going to be a surgeon on call until Monday. So there\u2019s no opportunity to get that surgery done in the hospital that day.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_100\" style=\"max-width:100%;  width: 247px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-100\" src=\"http:\/\/stories.kera.org\/broken-hip\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2015\/01\/bill_mccoy-247x300.jpg\" alt=\"Bill McCoy died last summer, shortly after he fell and broke his hip. Courtesy: McCoy family\" width=\"247\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/the-broken-hip\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2015\/01\/bill_mccoy-247x300.jpg 247w, https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/the-broken-hip\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2015\/01\/bill_mccoy-450x547.jpg 450w, https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/the-broken-hip\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2015\/01\/bill_mccoy-300x364.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/the-broken-hip\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2015\/01\/bill_mccoy.jpg 466w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 247px) 100vw, 247px\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\"style=\"max-width:100%;  width: 247px\" >Bill McCoy died last summer, shortly after he fell and broke his hip. Courtesy: McCoy family<\/p><\/div>\n<p>A delay of a few days might not sound like a big deal. But for elderly hip fracture patients, it can be the difference between life and death.<\/p>\n<p>McCoy, who\u2019s also a doctor, knew the chances of complications such as pneumonia and infection multiply with every minute of delay. Still, there was nothing he could do but drive to the next hospital.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI began to realize then that all those boxes being checked off, of things that needed to go correctly, were starting to break down because at this point he hadn\u2019t eaten in 40 hours, we\u2019re already repeating tests, now&#8217;s he on narcotics, he&#8217;s in a strange environment, he\u2019s in the hospital,\u201d McCoy said. &#8220;He&#8217;s going through the typical scenario that many people do when they go through the hospital.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h4>&#8216;Stuff starts to snowball&#8217;<\/h4>\n<p>By 3 p.m. the next day, a Friday, they still hadn\u2019t seen a physician. McCoy tracked down a surgeon, who told him the operation would be Saturday, once a fresh crew came in.<\/p>\n<p>The surgery, although two days late, went off without a hitch. McCoy says the technology was all there &#8212; but the human touch wasn\u2019t. He says no one took the time to think about what was best for the patient.<\/p>\n<p>Because it was a weekend, physical therapy schedule was reduced, so he didn\u2019t get out of bed as quickly as he could have.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat really started, I think, the beginning of the end,\u201d McCoy said. \u201cBecause not getting up, having this trauma and stress of surgery, not eating in 40 hours and you\u2019re 93. Stuff starts to snowball.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/q6o2vuhgSv0\" width=\"320\" height=\"240\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Part of the problem, McCoy says, is no one was taking charge. At this point, his father had seen two emergency room doctors, two orthopedic surgeons, three or four physical therapists, and four other doctors. When his dad began to have an irregular heartbeat, a cardiologist showed up.<\/p>\n<p>Bill McCoy, in 1945, while serving in the Army. After he fell last summer, his son, Dan McCoy, had a bad feeling the man he called \u201cdaddy Bill\u201d might never come home. <em>Courtesy: McCoy family<\/em><\/p>\n<p>McCoy says not one of these doctors had a talk with him and his mother about end-of-life options. So, down in the hospital cafeteria, over soup and mashed potatoes, McCoy asked his mom what she wanted.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_102\" style=\"max-width:100%;  width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-102\" src=\"http:\/\/stories.kera.org\/broken-hip\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2015\/01\/bill_mccoy_young-300x221.jpg\" alt=\"Bill McCoy, in 1945, while serving in the Army. After he fell last summer, his son, Dan McCoy, had a bad feeling the man he called \u201cdaddy Bill\u201d might never come home. Courtesy: McCoy family\" width=\"300\" height=\"221\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/the-broken-hip\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2015\/01\/bill_mccoy_young-300x221.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/the-broken-hip\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2015\/01\/bill_mccoy_young-450x332.jpg 450w, https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/the-broken-hip\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2015\/01\/bill_mccoy_young.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\"style=\"max-width:100%;  width: 300px\" >Bill McCoy, in 1945, while serving in the Army. After he fell last summer, his son, Dan McCoy, had a bad feeling the man he called \u201cdaddy Bill\u201d might never come home. Courtesy: McCoy family<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Her decision: no life support.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHere\u2019s the fallacy: A 93-year-old dies in the hospital &#8212; it\u2019s never going to be noticed,\u201d McCoy said. \u201cBecause he was 93 years old, he had a broken hip, it was his time to go. &#8230; I know from being an observer in that system that we could have done better.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4>More than a statistic<\/h4>\n<p>One of every five seniors who breaks a hip will die within a year. McCoy wants his dad to be more than a statistic.<\/p>\n<p>By telling his story, McCoy hopes to change the medical system.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I know from being an observer in that system that we could have done better,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I may be a part of that problem. I\u2019m part of the system. \u2026 There was no captain of the ship. We had a model where no one had a relationship. No one knew my dad\u2019s medical history.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_103\" style=\"max-width:100%;  width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-103 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/stories.kera.org\/broken-hip\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2015\/01\/dan_mccoy-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"Dan McCoy, chief medical officer of Blue Cross Blue Shield Texas, reflects on how the health care system treated his father after his broken hip. &quot;I know from being an observer in that system that we could have done better,\u201d McCoy said. Photo: Dane Walters\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/the-broken-hip\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2015\/01\/dan_mccoy-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/the-broken-hip\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2015\/01\/dan_mccoy-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/the-broken-hip\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2015\/01\/dan_mccoy-1360x765.jpg 1360w, https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/the-broken-hip\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2015\/01\/dan_mccoy-800x450.jpg 800w, https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/the-broken-hip\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2015\/01\/dan_mccoy-450x253.jpg 450w, https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/the-broken-hip\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2015\/01\/dan_mccoy.jpg 1800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\"style=\"max-width:100%;  width: 300px\" >Dan McCoy, chief medical officer of Blue Cross Blue Shield Texas, reflects on how the health care system treated his father after his broken hip. &#8220;I know from being an observer in that system that we could have done better.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n<p>He added: &#8220;We live in a world where our expectations are Hawkeye Pierce and Marcus Welby and maybe mixed in with a little <em>Grey\u2019s Anatomy<\/em>, that there are people that are empowered to know what\u2019s going on, help us make decisions, to be with us during this whole event.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>So now, McCoy is on a mission. To change the insurance system so doctors have incentives to work in teams, to coordinate care, and to bring patients a bit of the peace Bill McCoy cherished on his ranch in Bosque County.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dan McCoy knows the health care system inside and out&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":139,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-broken-hip","post_format-post-format-audio","byline-lauren-silverman"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/the-broken-hip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/the-broken-hip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/the-broken-hip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/the-broken-hip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/the-broken-hip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/the-broken-hip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":315,"href":"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/the-broken-hip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20\/revisions\/315"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/the-broken-hip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/the-broken-hip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/the-broken-hip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stories.kera.org\/the-broken-hip\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}