Quote:
Originally Posted by Torture
I get this, and also the doctor's point to "just go to the ER cause they have everything".
For instance, it is a big pain in the butt and super inefficient when you know you need an x-ray, bloodwork, etc but you have to 1) go to the doctor to get the paperwork for it 2) go to the testing facility and then 3) back to the doctor to review the results.
I broke my foot over the summer, it was fine, I could limp around and stuff but the swelling wasn't going down. OK, probably broken..it was Saturday, I'll wait until Monday and go to a walk in clinic because it's not an emergency and my doctor is booking out 4 weeks. Wait at walk in clinic "yep, probably broken, go get an x-ray". Drive across the city to the x-ray clinic, wait some more. Get the x-ray "your doctor will review the results with you". Wait 3 days, doctor from the walk-in calls me "yup, it's broken, go to the ER". Ok, so now I'm going to the ER a week after the injury to get an x-ray and a doctor to review it at the same place and I'm at the back of the triage it's understandably not urgent. And after waiting ~10 hours at the ER the doctor takes some more x-rays and basically said "try not to put too much weight on it, it will heal itself over time, come back in 2 weeks for another x-ray to make sure it's aligned properly" and I got to wait another 10 hours in emergency.
In many of these cases it's not an emergency, but it's important, and the way the system is designed it's time consuming and difficult to get it done. It's a waste of time for me, and it's a waste of time for the doctor.
Why can't we co-locate some of these things (tests, etc) that a doctor needs to make an assessment or treatment plan? It would be so much more efficient.
I know it's not as simple and there's the public/private question, but when I go to the dentist they don't say "you need an x-ray, go somewhere else to get it done and then we'll review the results", they just do it on site because they have the equipment there.
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Yikes, I didn't know it was still like that in Canada. I know there are lots of downsides to US healthcare, but this is an area where things seem far better for the patient. We have Ortho on-calls all over town that are just for walk in orthopedic injuries. Any time my kids have broken something, we just take them in, they have x-rays in the office and the orthopedic sees him right away and gives him a cast or boot or whatever.
Our Urologist has everything on site in their office. X-rays, ultrasound, CT scan, so if you go in for a kidney stone or whatever, it's just one stop.
I'd never go to the ER here unless it is something truly urgent or life threatening.