What's up with the overuse of "Urgent Care" and the "ER" nowadays?!

[GsxrBots]

Speaking of all of the scares with the various flu news in recent years...where did they go? Recall all the news? All the warnings, the daily updates on where they were spreading, how dangerous they were getting, people dying, etc...

That news just petered out and was never heard again...hype...that's what that was...mostly hype...

Mad Cow disease? Asian Bird Flu? Chronic wasting disease, etc, etc, etc...
All HUGE problems in their time, all still around, none still in the news.. Heck what, 20 years ago, nobody would go into the woods at all for fear of contracting lymes disease..

 

[VaBusa]

Mad Cow disease? Asian Bird Flu? Chronic wasting disease, etc, etc, etc...
All HUGE problems in their time, all still around, none still in the news.. Heck what, 20 years ago, nobody would go into the woods at all for fear of contracting lymes disease..

That's what I mean though...recall how prominant it was all in the news, DAILY! Shoot, HOURLY?! Where did all of that scare go? It just disappeared...makes you wonder

 

[VaBusa]

Agreed but when it's one of your littlins and it's bad you go.
A mothers instinct overrules common sense and then I stop arguing and say
'yes mam let me get my car key's'

I can agree with that, but as a Mom, I'm not one to jump the gun...my instincts are usually dead right (see above rant about the ex and wanting to take our kids to the ER all of the damn time LOL) and I feel a lot better about nursing my babies at home with love and good food over exposing 'em to MORE viruses at the ER when all they have is the common cold or flu...

 

[Blanca BusaLess]

My wife also is telepathic when it comes to these things.
A day or two of fever she's ok but more and she's like
'I know something's wrong let's go to the ....'
I'm like 'no it's ok don't worry'
We get to .... And doc is like 'it's a good thing you came his .... are all .... and he needs .... right away'!
She knows, I don't argue. Something about carrying them inside her for nine months allows her to still 'know' more than I when it comes to stuff like this.
I simply become a 'yes dear' person and tuck my tail.

 

[skydivr]

The problem is that we have disconnected the COST of healthcare from the person accessing it and we are reaping what we have sown.

Because I have insurance that allows me to pay a $35 co-pay, I don't wait to get really sick before I go to the Doctor, I go early so I don't have to take time off work if I get really sick. Since I don't know (or see) what the real cost is (and my only outlay is $35) I have been disconnected from the TRUE COST.

Even worse for those who are indigent (or just lazy); you can walk into an ER and not pay a PENNY for stupid stuff, but because it's 'free', why do you care? Go to any ER in the country, and you will find it over 50% full of people who are not that sick or hurt, but are there because it's being GIVEN to them (Welcome to Socialized Medicine) at someone ELSE's expense.

Going to get even worse as more of the Obamacare provisions kick in. Private Medical insurance is going to go so high and the additional requirements too rough that we are gonna end up with a public option only by default - THEN, regardless of whether you can pay or not, your healthcare is going to get RATIONED. Look at the system in the UK (that they are desperately trying to get out of now) - that is were we are heading...

 

[III]

I completely agree on the pussification of America...in fact, I've been using that phrase for quite a while now to describe our response to several things nowadays.

I must say however, I am guilty of having taken my kid to an urgent care here recently as our primary pediatrician is always completely booked for at least 3 weeks to a month out. If we can hold out for the appointment, then we typically do. Otherwise, if the symptoms continue or even worsen, you bet your @$$ I'm taking him to the urgent care. I'll be damned if something neglectful happens on my watch because it came down to me being to cheap to take him some where to get looked at. And to be honest, when it comes down to it...everytime the situation has occurred where I may need to take my kid to the ER, it usually boils down to me not wanting to sit around a bunch of people who are sick and wasting my time because it usually ends up being a several hour ordeal.
Just like several other things in this society, I believe things like this to be a bigger reflection of our own shortcomings and personal issues that we pass on to our children.

But staying on topic...I usually only use the urgent care when the doctors have scheduled themselves several weeks, sometimes even months out. I've found it helpful to tell the scheduling nurse to inform us of any cancellations that may occur before our scheduled appt. It usually means that you have to act quickly due to such short notice, but it helps avoiding a trip to the ER or UC.

 

[III]

My wife also is telepathic when it comes to these things.
A day or two of fever she's ok but more and she's like
'I know something's wrong let's go to the ....'
I'm like 'no it's ok don't worry'
We get to .... And doc is like 'it's a good thing you came his .... are all .... and he needs .... right away'!
She knows, I don't argue. Something about carrying them inside her for nine months allows her to still 'know' more than I when it comes to stuff like this.
I simply become a 'yes dear' person and tuck my tail.

SO TRUE!!! And when you try and tell them that they're so much better suited for that role..., you get the business. (or at least I do)

 

[Blanca BusaLess]

III I kinda like it because it's her that wakes up every 8 hours which always comes at 4am to give them the meds not me

 

[BlueHaya]

Speaking of all of the scares with the various flu news in recent years...where did they go? Recall all the news? All the warnings, the daily updates on where they were spreading, how dangerous they were getting, people dying, etc...

That news just petered out and was never heard again...hype...that's what that was...mostly hype...

...just another reason for the government to give you a test shot of something.

 

[cdhoroho]

Being i come from a family in the medical field i dont even have a family doctor
My mother says if its bad med 1 is the place (urgent care type places) as they treat u faster (usually major cuts or broken bones amd such)
My daughters pediatritian can get her in in an emergency same day we call
I dont like the er cause they are rarely covered but do have their uses when needed
Its common lately though as people are way weaker then yrs ago as a whole in the US

 

[mrsBusawhipped]

The few times I have been to the ER I always felt like I needed one of those decontaminating showers upon leaving.

Our "ER" was our bathroom, bottle Iodine and a bandaid! You can survive iodine on an open wound, you can survive ANYTHING!!!!

 

[MelodicMetalGod]

It's the main topic today at work...we seem to have quite a few acquaintances lately that seem to rush their kids or themselves straigth to the ER or urgent care facilities for the dumbest of things...this topic came up on the heels of us all finding out, AGAIN, that our health care has gone up and we keep wondering why. I would venture to say the increase in trips to the ER for stupid reasons might be one...

I've been to the ER all of 3x in my entire life, and I'm 41. Why do so many now use it in lieu of a regular doc's visit?! The gals here at work were rattling off the list of people we all know that do it, they have insurance, they're "smart", so why are they not doing what I assumed most do and either suffering through the sniffles or calling the doc and setting appts for the usual ailments? Why do so many want to wait 4 hours for a strange doc to see 'em at an urgent care facility?

Is this the in-thing to do now? What am I missing?

What are some examples of these frivolous ER visits?

For me, I avoid the ER like, well, the plague. I have no desire to spend hours there in uncomfortable seating in a room full of other sick and injured people that I might catch something from that's worse than what I brought.

My last three ER visits include a concussion that took my speech and sight (the choice to do that ER visit was made FOR me ), a broken pinky and a broken ring finger. Each of the finger breaks, I waited HOURS before deciding that I might need immediate attention.

If there's not significant risk, I'll skip the ER everytime. On the other hand, if there's something unknown goin' on, I usually recommend that folks head in to the ER. Last thing ya wanna do is "man up" and die of a heart attack that you convinced yourself was just dinner comin' back atcha.

Maybe that's why there's more ER visits...all our pseudo-educated butts know just enough to realize that ANY symptom could be a sign of some major health malady whereas in the old days we just woulda walked it off out of ignorance.

 

[MelodicMetalGod]

Broken bones are a GREAT reason to go to an ER Dennis. So are bleeding, extremely high fevers, etc...

I know far too many going for "flu symptoms" and "runny noses"...shoot, I've had the flu and I just rode it out at home over exposing everyone to it. There's not much any doc can do for those illnesses, so why go and drive up the costs for everyone else by tying up the ER staff? I don't get it...

To the ER for a cold or a flu?

OK, that sucks that we're paying for that.

 

[MelodicMetalGod]

A nation of pansies? Is that what we're becoming? I'm just wondering here...I don't get it...I was raised to know that we only went to the ER if we were REALLY hurt or possibly dying. Nowadays, it's for everything from headaches to "my finger feels funny" ???

Are they asking the nurse to pull that finger?

Patient: My finger hurts when I do this.
Doctor: Stop doing that.

 

[VaBusa]

To the ER for a cold or a flu?

OK, that sucks that we're paying for that.

Yeah, I'm not kidding...my ex is one. He's been no less than 3x this year for a cold or flu, has taken our kids for low-grade fevers. My co-workers and I were discussing the people we know that have gone or taken their kids for the same. We have a coworker that just took a family member for a sunburn. These are just not legit reasons, IMHO, for an ER visit. All things I've experienced myself, ALL things that can be treated at home...

And we wonder why health care keeps climbing?!

 

[cqt1414]

illegal aliens use emergency rooms as a free visit to a doctor. Hospitals are required to provide appropriate medical screenings, and care to anyone who shows up regardless of citizenship, legal status or ability to pay. There are no reimbursement provisions. What this does is make the taxpayer the HMO to the world. This is overburdening hospitals. I fully understand some will see me as a villain for pointing out these facts. But I don't feel our country should be financially responsible for the failings of neighboring countries.

 

[MelodicMetalGod]

I agree with that, but I see a lot of parents and/or adults in there too...

Been having a lot of "disagreements" with my ex over this as well. He takes himself to the ER and Urgent Care often, and seems to take our sons way more than I'd like. Earlier this year, I had the boys and our youngest wasn't feeling well, just had a bug, it was running its course, and he called to say he was going to the ER (he was sick) and wanted to take David. I told him no, that I didn't want David exposed to whatever was in the ER and that he was on the mend. He didn't agree with my assessment, but within two days, our youngest was fine and back to school, while the ex was really sick and missing work. I'm sure they had different illnesses, but why risk exposing yourself to what's at the ER, and why risk exposing others to what you have when you can't really treat viruses anyway? I tried to explain that to my ex, but it's like talking to a brick wall...

Most recently, this past weekend, he rushes our oldest to urgent care...Sam has a slight fever. My "Mom assessment" is that he's just received shots 3 days prior and he's likely having some reaction to that...doesn't matter, ex wants to take him to get checked over. Doc at urgent care says - likely a reaction to the shots Sam had a few days prior...

Sounds like someone who doesn't understand health/healtcare very well and is afraid to "take a chance" with something that intimidates them. Understandable to some degree. While I might need push to take myself to the ER even over a broken bone, if anyone around me isn't well, I would want to do anything I could to try to help them. For those who don't know any better, taking a loved one to the ER unnecessarily might make them feel like they are "doing something" to help. Lord knows, the toughest thing is to realize/accept that all you can do is NOTHING when a loved one isn't well.

 

[GsxrBots]

Maybe that's why there's more ER visits...all our pseudo-educated butts know just enough to realize that ANY symptom could be a sign of some major health malady whereas in the old days we just woulda walked it off out of ignorance.

We can all thank Al Gore for inventing the internet and then WebMD for all of us "half-educated" doctors out there with EVERY symptom to EVERY disease, or other problem..

 

[III]

Maybe that's why there's more ER visits...all our pseudo-educated butts know just enough to realize that ANY symptom could be a sign of some major health malady whereas in the old days we just woulda walked it off out of ignorance.

I think you're definitely on to something right here. Probably one of the few downfalls or negatives of having a "wealth of information" at our fingertips. Reminds me of the phrase, "Knows just enough to be dangerous"....

 

[VaBusa]

illegal aliens use emergency rooms as a free visit to a doctor. Hospitals are required to provide appropriate medical screenings, and care to anyone who shows up regardless of citizenship, legal status or ability to pay. There are no reimbursement provisions. What this does is make the taxpayer the HMO to the world. This is overburdening hospitals. I fully understand some will see me as a villain for pointing out these facts. But I don't feel our country should be financially responsible for the failings of neighboring countries.

This is true...

In my area of the U.S., I don't believe this is as much of an issue as it is in others. I'm seeing it as more a "replacement" for using your regular doc and that's very perplexing to me.

Gals here at work are thinking the adults are doing it to get pain meds perhaps? You're in there to see a doc that doesn't know you or readily have your med chart, and you're saying you've "hurt your back", so they dole out the narcotics without much thought...perhaps that's the reason for the growing trend in adults? Just a thought...