Ronn! wrote:
Frex, in my admittedly limited experience with the local system, a sick person who calls the clinic at the county hospital will (after being checked to see if they meet the low-income standards�) be given an appointment at the clinic at a given time on a date a month or two in the future. If s/he says that s/he can't wait that long, s/he is instructed to come to the ER.[the rest of the details snipped]
Fortunately, things are better in KC. There's a clinic here where you can usually schedule appointments within a week, and they reserve one day and one evening a week for walkups (not sure about weekends, I know they're open but not sure if it's appointment only). They also require an ID card, but it doesn't take long to get it. You can come in on a walkup day, spend about 30 to 45 minutes to get your card, then go sign in at the waiting room. It's still not an ideal setup, but it's better than what you describe.
Also, at least one hospital in the area has a clinic open right next to their emergency room. I don't know any details about that one.
But to get back to Nick's original point, a lot more could be done by insurance companies to educate patients about when they need to go to the emergency room, and when a visit to a clinic or to a "primary care physician" would be more appropriate. But how do educate people without insurance about going to a clinic vs. going to an emergency room? The only methods I can think of are PSAs (Public Service Announcements) on TV and radio, and maybe brochures in emergency rooms saying something like "If you have these symptoms, you're in the right place. If you have these other symptoms, you might want to consider a clinic or a visit to your regular doctor." Maybe there can be several brochures based on general symptom, sort of like the fliers found in some drugstores with general info about various diseases.
Any other ideas?
Reggie Bautista
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