I see people go to E.R.'s all the time for non-emergent care. That's not what E.R.'s are made for......
You would be amazed.....at the stories I could tell you.
Well, that’s true. But I think you might have missed mine.
A lot of people don’t have enough medical knowledge to diagnose whether it’s something serious or not. Your eye lids are swelling up, do you risk your vision and hope an over the counter medicine will help it, or to go see a doctor as soon as possible, even if it means the ER?
And unfortunately, there is often not an alternative. Wait two to three days to see your doctor or go to the emergency room. Walk-in clinics have helped, but I don’t think my insurance covers them.
There is another group of people that can’t afford to see the doctor, so they go to the emergency room because they know they will not be denied care. That’s a structural problem with care delivery. I don’t know why hospitals haven’t set up 24 hour clinics for non-emergency care. But a lot of what hospitals do is structured by the way they get reimbursed. Government needs to give them more flexibility.
I think you missed the point, she is not a doctor- how did she know it was a minor thing before she went to the ER and was checked out? I would have went to the ER too if I couldn’t get in to my doctor’s office.
This is what galls me about medical professionals- they go to school quite a while to learn about illness and injuries- and then expect their patients to know exactly when to go to the Dr. or to the ER. To me it is one of the most challenging decisions when I or someone else in my family has an issue. Over the years I have had doctors scoff at my concerns (several times they turned out to be wrong) and I have also been chided by them for not going sooner.
I do agree that sometimes people go to the ER when they really shouldn’t- but many times they go with scary symptoms and are made fun of if it turns out to be nothing. All medical professionals need to remember that few of thier patients have any medical training- so they should not want them to diagnose themselves.