Tech's New Reward System

[YLGuy]

We got this month's labs back today.  I had perfect labs.  There is a new program that links my labs with my tech. The Renal Dietician and the tech told me a little about it today.  Each tech gets 12 of their patients.   The Tech who's patients have the best labs over a 2 month period gets some type of reward.  The dietitian joked with him that I was a ringer.  It is to get the techs to encourage a good renal diet. 
Now, we have on on going joke that I hate the Lakers (who are doing great so far).  The fact is that I do not hate the Lakers.  I hate Kobe, the spoiled little brat. They love to tell me all about the Lakers when I come in.  I joked with my Tech that I was going to be bringing in a bag of those mini bonbel cheeses and I was going to pop 1 in my mouth every time I heard about the Lakers.  I joked that if I heard Kobe I was going to pop 3 in. 

[boswife]

thats funny YLGuy    that'll get um!!  and dang, how lucky that you get the same tech for any amt of time..  I HATE that they switch hubbys daily!!!!!!!  It's only one of mabie 5 but still, the consistancy just irkes me...

[brandi1leigh]

My center has different techs every session. I actually get the one of two techs to stick me because I am a hard stick, and they are the only two who can get it. But if it weren't for that, I would have a different tech every day. I've often wondered why there isn't more consistency.

I'll be interested to see if the competition works or if it makes the techs want to avoid the more difficult patients.

[Riki]

I don't understand the games that are played for good lab results.  Why not just treat the patients like adults?  Some of the things I've read on this board about how some centres go about getting good lab results would cause me to be a belligerent patient.  I don't like being talked down to.  My labs have never been perfect.  My phosphorus is always high, but they know why, and the only thing that will fix it is a working kidney, so they don't even bother asking me about binders anymore.

[YLGuy]

I guess there are many patients that have labs that are not very good because they are non-compliant with the renal diet.  My tech told me that only 3 of his 12 are compliant.

[okarol]

It's helpful to remember that patients are non-compliant or difficult for many reasons, most of which have nothing to do with the person caring for them.  It's good if medical staff can try to take a look at the situation from the patient's perspective.  Are they in pain?  Are they scared or anxious?  Are you asking them to do something that is hard for them?  Are they feeling alone? Have they been treated badly by someone else?  Have they been made to feel like a number by their HMO?  Do they have cultural or religious beliefs about medicine that might be different from other people's?   Maybe they just weren’t a very nice person to begin with, or maybe they were, but their situation might be bringing out the worst in them.

Games work for some patients, while annoying others. It's a compassionate and creative person that can encourage and help patients with non-compliance. But there will always be some self-will, no one is perfect.

  GO LAKERS!

[Mizar]

  I Wonder, what Their Reward is?  Maybe, they get a Tote Bag or a Travel Mug, with the Name of the Dialysis Center on it.  hmmmm,  just Wondering.

[kitkatz]

Sounds a lot like out test scores being tied to our pay in the school district.  Sucks if you have low performing lass to begin with!  Plus a lot of times labs are directly related to health issues.  Whenever I have a procedure, my labs tend to go wonky for a week or so.

[YLGuy]

  GO LAKERS!

They finally lost one!

  I Wonder, what Their Reward is?  Maybe, they get a Tote Bag or a Travel Mug, with the Name of the Dialysis Center on it.  hmmmm,  just Wondering.

I do not know. 

[RightSide]

At our center, the nurses and techs are rotated from patient to patient seemingly at random.  I rarely get the same ones twice in a row.  The nurses and techs have told me that they don't understand the system either.  If it is a system--it may be just be ad hoc, reassigning staff whenever there are new patients or patients who have traveled to our community and need dialysis once or twice here.