When You go to the Emergency Room, How Long do You Wait?

[JerryLove]

Agreed. The problem is not governmental involvement... it's the involvement of politics... which in turn is really private business with a badge. When decisions about treatment are based on which healthcare company benifits, or which state has a drug plant that will see proceeds, is where we've gone off course.

Seeing illness as a profit opportunity is the problem.

 

[MatthewB.]

One just has to see Michael Moore's "Sicko" to fully comprehend how bad healthcare has become and while others claim the movie is BS, having worked in the healthcare industry for two decades, I can tell you that Michael Moore pretty much hit the nail on the head with that movie.

Healthcare is all about business. I worked Pathology for 18 years, While also working a second job in the hospital Lab for 10 years and I now work in the Cath lab and can tell you that almost all decisions on your life is based on what is the cheapest to treat you while maximizing profit to the hopsital.

Cutbacks of nurses has reached epidemic levels where years ago it was a nurse for every 2-3 patients, that total is now one nurse for every 5-9 patients. Hitting the nurse call light used to get you a nurse within a minute or two, now if you get one within an hour, count your blessings.

Here's an interesting fact, if you are admitted into a hospital and you have your own medication, the nurse will confiscate that medication and have pharmacy hold it for you, then administer the same exact medication at astronomical cost per pill, then when you are discharged, they will give you back your medication. Now tell me how does that make any sense. The nurse will tell you it's for your protection, but if the doasge is the same and you have it on you, then why not.

I pray every day I don't get sick, and I have insurance.

 

[JerryLove]

Here's an interesting fact, if you are admitted into a hospital and you have your own medication, the nurse will confiscate that medication and have pharmacy hold it for you, then administer the same exact medication at astronomical cost per pill, then when you are discharged, they will give you back your medication. Now tell me how does that make any sense. The nurse will tell you it's for your protection, but if the doasge is the same and you have it on you, then why not.

If you can get them to do it correctly. My father went into the hospital on a drug he had to take 4 times a day. The hospital had no more than a twice-a-day schedule. There was a significant negative impact to his health until we managed to bypass their system.

 

[Nemo128]

Should people be going to the ER for a simple illness?

This is another example of a failed system. You see having clinics to handle the small stuff would help reduce the load at the ER for big stuff.

Situation yesterday:

My best friend called me yesterday complaining of abdominal pain. She's 5 weeks pregnant. I left work, dropped off the kids at day care, took her to the hospital. SHE wanted to go to the ER, and I told her I could take her to the clinic I know of and handle it there.

She wanted to go to the ER because that's all she knew how to do. Therein lies the base problem with ERs! When we got there, she was told to fill out a piece of paper, slide it into a slot, and wait. After an hour of waiting (the ER only had a handful of people in it surprisingly, she was seen by a nurse. Then we waited an hour for the "financial" counsel. Then another hour for a bed. Then an hour for a pelvic exam. Then an hour for an ultrasound. Then 40 mins for a SCRIP! We basically spent from 1pm to 7:30pm in the hospital to be prescribed Tylenol #3.

However, if the first administrator had been trained in a very simple process, it could have went much better and there would have been less burden on the system. Process could go as follows:

1. "Where does it hurt?"
2. "Can you walk?"
3. "How did you get here?"

Her answers would have been "Stomach", "Yes", and "He drove me." She could have handed her a piece of paper with info on the local clinic, called the North Hudson Community Action Corp Health Services Center, and told her she should go there for treatment.

I then asked the lady while I was waiting if she knew about it. She pulled out a paper with the name, address, and phone numbers of all their departments!!! WTF!?!? Am I the only one that sees a problem with this?!?!

It's not simply a matter of "People should do". How bout I tell you guys you should create a vehicular mount for a rugged PC to be used in a tracked ground transport that can withstand the MIL-STD environmental requirements for desert operations? Bet ya can't without some education on what that all means. People can't be expected to know that there are other avenues besides a trip to the ER, just like kids don't just know about colleges without being told about it and employees don't know what they're supposed to do at work without organizational goals.

If hospitals treat the ER as a medical Walmart, that's how people will think of it! The ER, to me, means life threatening. There was a kid yesterday with what I believe was a broken nose. He was on his crackberry or his blueberry or his blackberry or his chuckberry, athough technically Chuck Berry is a blackberry, so he was obviously not in mortal danger, but if all he knows is "I'm hurt, I go to ER", that's what he'll do and that's what everyone does!!!

 

[JerryLove]

I'm going to vote "somewhere in between"... but then maybe I'm one of those unfamiliar with what the local clinics offer.

I hit a clinic with the flu, or a rash, or most anything I would have hit my primary with had it not been odd hours. I hit the ER with severe pain or anything that could be described as "gushing". That's included many things that were stitch-resulting.

At the risk of hitting an obvious "stomach hurts". What if that had been appendicitis (certainly not rare or obscure)? She could have died in several hours of waiting.

 

[Nemo128]

At the risk of hitting an obvious "stomach hurts". What if that had been appendicitis (certainly not rare or obscure)? She could have died in several hours of waiting.

Totally agree, but since we were waiting for 4 hours before she was actually seen anyway, it would have been a moot point.

I should have been more detailed too. She went to the hospital last Thursday and she was checked for an appendicitis then. She also told them that yesterday, so the chances of it occuring so soon were slim. Add the fact that she was functioning, albeit slowly and painfully, and it could have been a safe bet that it wasn't that. A ruptured spleen would be a much more concerning condition because it could kill someone quickly, but the location was way off being to the upper right of the pelvis. That's another thing, people need to be aware of the differences between the stomach and the surrounding organs or areas. Many people tend to refer to the stomach as everything between the rib cage and the hips, and doctors should be willing to inform patients during an exam that the location they are probing is more likely the intestine or the kidney, for example. A little knowledge goes a long way.

At the risk of sounding cold, she had been hurting since Tuesday morning and finally decided to go Wednesday afternoon. Had it been something life-threatening, it probably would have been a lot worse the following day. Had she been in scream-inducing agony, I'd have been far more concerned. It being uncomfortable and painful, rather than agonizing and debilitating, made me believe it was not immediately life-threatening.

I appreciate your posts Jerry, always a good read, always thought-provoking, and always make me rethink my way of communicating.

 

[JerryLove]

I don't think you sound cold. The added context has certainly moved me to the "agree with your assessment" camp