No - I can't Accept That

It is very common place, particularly at a tertiary referral center like UAMS, to get patients transferred to us who are in need of more specialized care than can be provided at their current location. In ophthalmology, for the most part, this occurs on an outpatient basis. But there a couple examples of people trying to send patients to the inpatient ophthalmology service (what??!?!?) in need of better eye care. (Hey, in our defense, we do occasionally have our own inpatients.)

One patient was one with sudden decrease in vision in one eye, not to mention multiple other systemic vascular issues going on. We don't even admit those people unless IV steroids are warranted.

Another was a surgical patient who complained of blurry vision. This patient had multiple surgical issues going on (as in not having healed from the surgery and now with infection). Would we please accept the patient? Um, no. Try the surgery service for a surgical patient and we would be glad to consult.

What are we, doctors?