Patients abandoned by chiropractic clinic which closed mysteriously
Just like in any other profession there is always going to be cases of the good, the bad and the ugly. This may be just one of those not so good looking situation for both the doctor and their patients involved. This is a case of what we called in the health care profession: Patient Abandonment.
What is “patient abandonment” you asked? Most insurance companies defined abandonment of a patient as a unilateral (one sided) severance of the professional relationship between a health care provider and a patient without reasonable notice at a time when there is still a need for continuing health care. More on this at the end of this article.
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strong>Below is an except from online Straits Times by Judith Tan:/strong>/ul>
“PATIENTS of a chiropractic clinic in Raffles Place have been left wondering why it has not opened for business since last Monday.
Global Corrective Chiropractic, on the seventh floor of the Royal Brothers Building in Raffles Place, has remained closed, calls are not answered and patients x-rays can be seen pushed under the front door.
a href=’http://singaporechiropractic.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/globalchiroabandonment.jpg’ title=’Patients abandoned by chiropractic clinic’>img src=’http://singaporechiropractic.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/globalchiroabandonment.thumbnail.jpg’ alt=’Patients abandoned by chiropractic clinic’ />/a>The clinic, which is aid to have ‘two doctors and three staff members’, had been in operation for about 18 months.
Other tenants occupying the same floor were surprised, saying that business of the clinic appeared good and there had been ‘a constant stream of clients’ going to it daily.
‘At the peak, you can see almost 100 people going there. It didn’t seem that the clinic was in financial trouble,’ said one worker from an office a couple of doors away.
After going to the clinic for the past year to have their spines aligned, Mr Tan Thiam Boon and his wife, Diana Yap, were shocked to hear it had closed for almost 10 days.
As if that was not bad enough, their x-rays were left lying on the floor of the abandoned clinic on Tuesday.
Clients pay between $2,000 and $8,000 each for 70 to 125 sessions.
The Tans have paid $10,000 in total for both their treatment.
Chinese daily Lianhe Zaobao reported that about five unhappy clients have already made police reports.”
For Singaporeans looking for chiropractors do not be dismayed by this news. There are many other chiropractors out there who will offer you the service you deserve. This unfortunate situation need not have happened if the doctor have just done just a little bit more. They did inform the patient in this case but only by putting up signs on their office doors hoping whichever patient who came next would find out. According to Dr Leslie Wise from a href=”http://www.chiroethics.com/archives/abandonment.html”>Chiroethics.org/a>, “Closing a practice permanently or moving to another location requires a larger effort by the doctor. Notification of all current and recent past patients by mail is considered a minimum endeavor. Adequate time must be given to allow patients to pick up records for transfer to other doctors. It is not legally required that we help patients find a new chiropractor, but it is a courtesy that patients will appreciate.”
These doctors apparently are not planning to cut of the relationship hence not recommending them for care by other chiropractors while they are in a transition to move or close temporarily. Even restaurant patrons won’t tolerate this kind of service. If you are a doctor you may terminate your patient-doctor relationship anytime for any reason as long as sufficient notice and time is given. On the other hand, if you are a patient, you can do the same. In the case of this office, their patients have already paid a huge sum and committed a significant amount of their resources. As a patient, would you not feel abandoned if you came to your doctor’s office only to find that he is gone. Here’s a snippet from the news paper itself:
a href=’http://singaporechiropractic.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/global-corrective-chiro-article.jpg’ title=’Global Chiro Abandonment’>img src=’http://singaporechiropractic.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/global-corrective-chiro-article.jpg’ alt=’Global Chiro Abandonment’ />/a>
Our goal here is to help Singaporeans be aware of what chiropractic can do for them and at the same time be open to share with you your rights as a patient or practice member.
strong>Relevant Links:/strong>
a href=”http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/STIStory_227534.html”>News from Straits Times Online/a>
a href=”http://www.chirosecure.com/terminating_care.shtml”>
Patients have the right to dismiss providers at will for reasons satisfactory to themselves/a>
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