I Wonder How Many Jobs Out There Provide No Goods Or Services...
By ParaTed2k
@ParaTed2k (22940)
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
August 9, 2009 11:26pm CST
other than to perpetuate themselves, or to ensure compliance with regulations that don't improve the health or safety of our society?
Let's start a list...
I used to work as a paramedic. In the companies I worked, there was someone whose entire job was to keep up with Medicare/Medicaid regulations and keep us informed. What a total waste of a paycheck! It makes me wonder who many people who work for Medicare/Medicaid do nothing but come up with stupid regulations to pass on.
What a waste!
Tax accountants. I can see why companies need accountants. Someone needs to keep track of the accounts payable, accounts receivable, and make projections on the future. There is nothing unnecessary there. But accountants whose only purpose is to help ordinary citizens figure out our taxes... Let's just have a tax code that doesn't require professionals to figure out in the first place.
What a Waste!
Ok, your turn.
1 response
@ladybugmagic (3978)
• United States
10 Aug 09
Well, I'll be damned. I never pegged you for a paramedic. You have finally peaked my interest. What do you do now?
When they kept you informed, did you do anything with what they told you? Or was it really just throw away information?
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
10 Aug 09
Well, I'm sure other employees got other information, but what we were told was the wording we had to use to satisfy Medicare/Medicaid. Important things like writing "Administered oxygen to treat shortness of breath" instead of "gave o2 for SOB". "Administered oxygen to treat 80 pulse oximeter reading" instead of "administered oxygen to treat cyanosis of the face". You see, wording makes the difference in whether or not Medicare/Medicaid will pay out.
I knew there would be different requirements from one state to another, since Medicare/Medicaid is funded by the fed, but run at the state level. However, not only were their differences from one city to another, there were even differences in requirements for ambulance companies in the same city.
The changes were almost always useless, and we wasted a lot of time both learning them and adhereing to them.
Yeah, I was in EMS for 10 years. I ran in Atlanta; out in the deserts, potato fields and small towns of Eastern Idah; and in Milwaukee. I also did search and rescue training in the Grand Tetons.
Because of some bad health issues, I'm no longer able to do EMS. Now I volunteer with the Red Cross and People & Paws K9 Search & Rescue. I also teach guitar, play gigs when I can get them, and basically enjoy my military retirement.
What do you do?
@ladybugmagic (3978)
• United States
10 Aug 09
I have another question for you. Do you think, if obamacare passes, that the medics will have to learn new stuff, like what medicare and medicaid told you? How will all that work with single payer billing? And how will that effect the jobs of medical billers/front office, and even medical transcriptionists? Do the medicare/medicaid codes ever tie in with the dispatch codes?
I work 2 two-bit jobs and am playing mylot right now. I took a slight detour from furthering my education.
I am racking my brain for similar "pointless" jobs, but am at a loss. The closest I can come is food runner, but they are pretty resourceful, hence not pointless. It's 10:45 my time, though, and I wake up at five to workout, so my brain has lost its capacity to think at this point. Maybe the greeter at a store?
It will come to me mid-day tomorrow.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
10 Aug 09
I don't know. The only references to ambulances in the bill refer to edits of existing laws.
