Inappropriate ER Visit 

People who are against medical for everyone because they have to wait

@@relic46 As a Canadian we also have a primary care shortage, extended waits to book appointments for people who have a doctor, and inappropriate use of our ER's for things that should be managed by PCP. Our urgent care has people line up in the night to get in and they are full for the day upon opening. It's a universal problem in many nations now.

As a PCP Geriatrician, I can confirm the struggle is too real!

PCP’s are so needed too. Thank you

Thanks for translating what PCP means. Aka Family doctor (Canada) or GP (UK)

Sucks that your doctors didn't help you, hope ur doing better now.

@@Imakegachavideosforfun_17thank you

Man, shout out to that ER doc. They deal with way too much, but it sounds like he was already doing a pretty good job, being the one to take care of the diverticulitis in the first place, and really hearing what you were saying in that moment. I truly think most doctors want to be this way for their patients, but the demands on a doctor's time and energy are ever-growing, compensation is shrinking, and they are disincentivized from being that way

It just depends on your PCP. My PCP loves me and even had Ortho once on the phone and had me set up an appt rather than me having to wait a day or two for the referral.

​@Emily-hd9sm I just watched a video by an ortho surgeon and I can see why, I know a lot of medical say they don't get enough time with each patient, which I'm a talker and love to learn so I don't help lol...like I have one doctor I see about once a month, sometimes I have 15 minutes to catch up and other times it's 45 minutes, my other doctor is also a specialist so I saw them for about 15 minutes, also depends on the person like if they are a talker too😂

It would be nice if you could ever get in to see them! Urgent care is too much of a gamble. Some of them are complete nitwits who don’t know what they’re doing. I got stitches where the guy made the skin layers overlap on a super clean cut, and they failed to remove a bit of metal that was stuck under my dad’s eyelid, abrading his cornea. I found it and removed it with a Q-tip soaked with saline solution in less than five minutes. Other times, they’re great and do a fantastic job.

And most of the inappropriate ER visits utilize 911 for a ride falsely believing they'll get in faster. I've had them making plans with family/friends for after thinking they'll be out within the hour. I want to laugh when charge says that glorious phrase: "triage and waiting room"...the waiting room is full with an 8-12 hour avg wait time.

😮

Our 5 year old fell and hit his head on our backyard patio. He had a nasty cut on his head, quite a bit of bleeding, but not dangerously so. He was distraught but is, in general, a very dramatic kiddo. We took him to urgent care and they refused to staple his head because they said he’d need a CT scan. Didnt clean his cut or anything and even offered to call an ambulance for us. I have 6 kids, and have seen PLENTY of bumped up heads over the years, and couldn’t believe they offered an ambulance transfer. We drove to the ER, and he was seen by a nurse practitioner who gave him a few staples. There was nothing to indicate he needed a CT scan, and was happily playing with the puzzles in the waiting room. Such a waste of medical resources.

Let’s be honest all of that can pretty much be done without an appt. Order the labs and tell them when they have to be done and they can send you an email if the meds work. You all make it impossible to get appts and $300 just for me to say yes the meds work makes it feel like I am being robbed. My doctor told me I need to come in every 3 weeks to be seen but his first available appt is 3-4 months out and his nurses won’t let me schedule more than one appt at a time. When I do come in he is basically a glorified note taker; he doesn’t try and treat anything. My blood thinners did in fact come from an urgent care doctor who prescribed the several months worth of meds I needed. My physical medicine doctor is treating my heartburn. In fact he is treating a lot of issues. My pcp left it up to pmr to order a follow up lung Ct when a nodule was found. My pcp can’t do much other than write notes.

Please excuse my ignorance on this matter, but are visits every 2 months really necessary for every med refill? My doctor started out asking for once a year visits, then twice a year visits, then quarterly visits. Now you're asking people to come in SIX times a year for well visits? Doesn't that seem a bit excessive? I understand if the medication can cause harm, but how many prescriptions are there that only put a bandaid on the problem or that cause unintended harm instead of healing the patient? Maybe I'm the one missing something, but shouldn't doctors actually heal the body instead of bankrupting people with well visits?

I can’t even be certain that the PCP I’ve been most recently assigned to will still be here in two months from now. Honestly, I’m starting to think my “pcp” is really just some algorithm on the Mayo Clinic computer system

Very real problem.

But you're literally demanding that people with no insurance pay you like 100 bucks for you to say glad it's all working and write a prescription. And even with insurance people don't have the money! You need to keep this in minds when asking people to pay you for needless appointments. Why not just tell them what to look out for and come in if there's a problem 🙄

One day there may even be a bike helmet. 😂

Not really…Dr. Glaucomflecken doesn’t have a “patient” in his videos. I think he said something once about that would be punching down or something like that. I kind of a appreciate the fact that he doesn’t make fun of patients

@@A---ti3zz true

I dont think ive ever met my doctor, i have no idea what she even looks like. Ive only seen the NP.

Yes!!!!!!!! I literally saw a pcp for heartburn and she immediately ended my appointment and said that primary care doctors are for things like strep throat. She literally wouldn’t do anything for heartburn

Same. I have enough specialists that I can get it covered and I seem to know the magic words to get a referral to another specialist. It’s why I hadn’t seen my PCP for years, which of course they give me shit for.

@@ferretyluvPlease share the magic words 🙏 My PCP also refuses to give me referrals for some reason 😢

@@ComfyChaos I can't speak to all PCPs, but when I had a specialist issue, I listed my internet self-diagnosis as a medical condition on the intake form, and my PCP didn't even ask any questions, he just gave me the referral immediately (but OTOH it was a highly specific condition that could not be easily misdiagnosed, even by a layperson, so YMMV if you tell your PCP that you have lupus or something).

😢​@@A---ti3zz

There really is a reason … ER doctors are not in a position to “manage” chronic conditions. Blood pressure medications, thyroid medications, heart medications, asthma medications, blood thinners, or any other medication that treats long term conditions need monitoring - such as labs, vitals monitoring (BP, heart rate, respiratory rate) - and often need counseling or follow up for lifestyle changes such as dietary management, exercise, smoking cessation, etc. Many of these medications may also need a one-month follow up to make sure they are working/effective, not too strong, no major side effects, etc. ER doctors don’t do that, primary care doctors do. Additionally, ER doctors KNOW that many patients would simply not see their primary care doctor and just come back every 6 months for the medications. Prescribing long term medications without any plans for follow up risks injury to the patient and lawsuits for the physician. ERs are for acute symptom management, not maintenance care. Unfortunately many people in the US abuse the ER for things that could 100% be treated by primary care and urgent care centers - SOMETIMES it’s justified (people unable to get time off work to take sick kids or themselves to the doctor during “normal business hours”, no PCP availability and/or no urgent care availability to name a couple justifieable reasons). The ER doc gives a month of medications and then it’s the patient’s responsibility to get a PCP appointment or an urgent care visit to get the refill. In this case, when the patient is on the medication his blood pressure should stabilize and urgent care would see him if he needed it for the refill. Hope that helps answer your question! Sincerely, 30-year RN 😊

That made me laugh so hard, thank you haha

Azithro and a steroid dose pack treat HTN, yeah?

Family medicine doctors are a type of primary care doctor. Internal medicine doctors and pediatricians are also PCPs

Their availability may not be any better, or they may be out of network for insurance.

lol You know how hard it is to find a primary care doctor that is actually accepting patients? I kid you not I called more than a dozen offices and finally found a doctor who would take me but his first available appt was 7 months later. Telehealth appts are also very limited.

@@A---ti3zz It all heavily depends on location and other factors. My first appointment with my PCP was scheduled within a few weeks, and I was even able to reschedule it for a different day of that same week.

Easier said than done When my primary care provider retired, Mayo Clinic told the other provider in that small rural clinic “we’re moving you to take over for a retiring physician in Rochester” and then drastically reduced services in our small town clinic to things like basic labs (bloodwork and such) and blood pressure monitoring. This summer they closed completely and last weekend I saw a For Sale sign on the building. I have been assigned and reassigned to several different providers at the larger clinic (not Rochester) in the last 5 years or so, and calling to get an appointment can sometimes involve waiting on hold for 45 minutes or more before your phone call is answered. My daughter arrived at the clinic for an appointment she had made months earlier, only to be informed that her appointment had been canceled but no one nor the patient portal system bothered to inform her.

Just some areas. Definitely not that long in any area I’ve lived, and I personally can’t even say it’s not hyperbole and is literally that long anywhere, though maybe someone will chime in with a different experience.

But you'd never wait 7 months to see a GP in the UK. I hope you have that situation sorted because you shouldn't be left without medication. Migraines drain your soul. I get them but only once or twice a year. Must be awful to keep getting them 😕