Monday, December 17, 2007

On Healthcare

I read several medical blogs, the world of medicine has always fascinated me, and I'm getting ready to go back to school to get a PharmD, so that I can become a pharmacist. (Unless drugmonkey scares me off!)

Anyway, a hot topic these days is misuse of the ER. Personally, I've been to the ER a few times in my 29 years of life, once for my very first migraine, two or three times for respiratory distress (I have asthma), and once for what I thought was appendicitis and turned out to be a burst ovarian cyst. I've also taken my roommate at the time for kidney stones.

My husband has taken his daughter at least twice, once for some stomach thing that needed surgery (not a hernia), and once for high fever/ear ache/uncontrollable crying.

What do all these visits have in common? First, they all took several hours. Second, there are always a ton of not very sick looking people in there. Even though there are confidentiality rules and such, the ER's not that big of a place, so you overhear a lot. I don't understand why these people come to the ER for minor aches and pains! Sore throat with a cough but no fever? What's the emergency there? You fell 4 days ago and hurt your ankle and it hurts but there's no swelling and your x-rays are normal? Again, why are you here?

The crazy thing is, we have an urgent care facility literally across the driveway from the ER! And the wait there is usually half that of the ER. In fact when I had my abdominal pain, and what I thought was appendicitis, I actually went to urgent care, and they freaked out and put me in a wheelchair and rolled me over to the ER.

But the urgent care makes you pay for services. They're part of the same group as the ER, and do take medi-caid, medi-care and medi-cal, as well as disability, but most people have a small co-pay of $20-$75. The ER will treat you for 'free'.

I wonder if the ER had the same co-pay system, especially for non-emergency issues, would it be as crowded? Or if they could make people go to urgent care or the free clinic a few minutes away...

Until then, if we have to use the ER, we'll use our card when we sign in. If you have insurance, present your card at every opportunity. I know part of the reason I don't have to wait as long as some is because I don't go to the ER for a sore throat. But that insurance card is like a golden ticket sometimes.

In the end, it's much easier and less time consuming to go to a PCP. That whole "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" thing.

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