Charity provides patients with an extra dose of TLC

Charity provides patients with an extra dose of TLC

By Gedsiri Suhartono

JAKARTA (JP): Ever feel upset because the doctor you visit
does not seem to care enough to explain your symptoms or his or
her diagnosis? Felt distressed because your illness is not
clearing up despite repeated attempts to cure it?

Or have you been on the receiving end of an "I hope you will
stop being a pest" look from the aloof physician?

If your answer to any or all of the above is "yes", there are
two fitting explanations for your aggravation.

First, you know that your right to sufficient information is
violated. And, second, you are simply dissatisfied with another
unanswered question in your quest to find an answer to your
"what's wrong with my...?" complaint.

An unaccommodating bedside manner has led to criticism of some
doctors. Worse, skeptics, and realists, may avoid doctors,
medical practitioners and medical facilities altogether.

A field initially deemed committed to serve humanity --
obligated, some would say -- is often no different than an
enterprise exploiting people to fill up their coffers. Some
choose to suffer through the pain rather than deal with an
inhospitable medical profession.

Budi, a mid-career professional who has suffered occasional
abdominal muscle spasms for eight years, gave up his search for a
cure.

"I was diagnosed in and out, went through various tests and X-
rays, and spent quite a fortune. Not once during that process did
I receive any eloquent, medical or technical explanation for all
those tests," he complained.

The Foundation of Indonesian Health Consumers Empowerment,
inaugurated last month, hopes to end the continuing cycle of
abuse of health consumers' rights. It also wants to remove many
negative sentiment toward the field of health and medical
practices by bridging the communication gap with consumers.

And many people remain ignorant of their rights in the health
field.

The idea for the foundation came primarily from several
conscientious health and medical practitioners, who observed
the weak position of health consumers.

"Their needs (for treatment and medication), in many cases,
are immediate. The current condition leaves consumers only to
surrender to necessity of seeking immediate treatment," said
Marius Widjajarto, chairman of the foundation.

The foundation's team of experts groups medical practitioners
from various disciplines, legal experts and consumer rights
advocates. The foundation also works closely with the Indonesian
Medical Association (IDI) to seek counsel on ethical and medical
technicalities.

"We figure it's better for us, medical professionals, to clean
up the mess made by irresponsible people in our profession than
to have it be done by others outside the profession who might not
understand how things in the medical field works," said
Widjajarto, who is also a medical practitioner.

He slams several recent television ads promoting telephone
medical diagnosis, which is also costly and difficult to account
for. Professional doctors, he said, need to go through four steps
of interacting with the patients before they can come up with a
diagnosis.

Two weeks after its inauguration, the foundation has eight
clients. Widjajarto said most of the cases involved disputes
arising from misunderstanding or lack of communication.

"We will try to act as mediators by bringing together
conflicting parties and talking through their problems," he said,
adding a court case would be a resort if a settlement could not
be reached. The foundation is exploring establishing cooperation
with the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI).

The foundation charges Rp 10,000 in administration fees to
clients. Nurhasan, also a practicing doctor who is the first
secretary at the foundation, said the fee covered correspondence
and case filing.

The foundation is a non-profit organization with the vision to
empower health consumers to know and acquire their rights. Most
staff members are volunteers.

Widjajarto, quoting the United Nations Consumers Guidelines
and other European programs, cites five rights of consumers.

They are the right to the protection of health and safety,
right to be protected from economic interest, right to be
reimbursed from suffered damage, right to be informed and
educated, and right to be heard and receive counsel.

Taken a step further, those rights expand to encompass the
consumer right to a second medical opinion (every doctor is
responsible to provide as elaborate and sufficient information to
other doctors whose opinion is sought by a patient), and the
right to choose the types and brand of medicine according to
financial capability.

Topping the foundation's long-term agenda is informing
consumers about their rights.

"Consumer ignorance of their rights is lamentable," Widjajarto
said.

He said even the elaborate sciences of therapy, medicine and
treatment contain risk, and patients should be availed of all
sorts of information on his or her illness. Before going through
any treatment, medication or other medical gadgets, patients are
entitled to have access and information on the necessity and
ramifications of recommended treatment.

In practice, observes Widjajarto, many medical practitioners
and hospitals tend to neglect informing their patients.

In other cases, they might also charge the patients more than
the fair price.

Take Satrio's account of having to go through a whole series
of CAT scans, laboratory and allergy tests at a private hospital
in South Jakarta for chest pains.

"It costs me nearly a million (rupiah). A doctor friend of
mine said that fair and honest treatment to have a chest X-ray
would only costs me Rp 30,000," Satrio said.

Incidents like this have led many of the haves in Indonesian's
society to opt to go abroad for medical treatment. Pricing,
obviously, is not their greatest concern. Instead, it's the
satisfaction of being treated well, given a broad understanding
of one's condition and even being allowed to choose the brand of
medicine prescribed by doctors.

The foundation faces a challenge in getting the word out about
what it does, quite an undertaking during this highly charged
period of apprehension and uncertainty. It is doubly difficult as
the foundation's office in a three-story building located at Jl.
Senayan 39, South Jakarta, does not indicate its mission.

"We are not sure if we would be levied and asked for fees if
we put this sign up. We don't have much money to deal with those
issues now," said Widjajarto as he showed a 45 X 100 cm copper
insignia of the foundation to The Jakarta Post recently.