ER Overload

C H l M P O U T . C O M

has the best n i g g e r jokes on the net!

The purpose of getting the greater precentage of our citizens health care coverage and primary care providers is so that we can focus on primary care. ERs are truly crowded with sick people needing hospital care, care that is considered secondary or tertiary care. But, if more people had primary physicians and the availability to receive screenings and routine visits we would decrease the need for secondary and tertiary care. So while it is obvious that the author here can't conceive the solution to the problem (stating that giving everyone insurance will just make the primary docs busier), we need to look to the future and realize that this is a solution that will take time to show its results and effectiveness.

It's still the uninsured that is causing most of the problems, at least in California. If you go to any big-city general hospital, the emergency room is filled with immigrants that go there because they know they can't be turned away (by law) and they don't have to pay. 15% is still a lot of people, and the taxpayer has to pick up the tab.

This whole article is a lie

This whole article is B.S. A.K.A. A big fat lie. And anyone thats been to an emergency room in the last few years knows it. This is leftest propaganda at it's most blatant. End of real story.

if you are waiting for 6-7 hours then you can't be that bad. The ERs I know triage their patients when they come in.

GET USED TO IT HERE IN AMERIKA

GET USED TO IT HERE IN AMERIKA

So the government and managed care payers ratchet down reimbursements to providers, year after year, gradually reducing the number of primary care physicians and urgent care facilities and, now, .........eeeeek, We have an access-to-care issue. Nobody could have predicted that.........could we?

Maggie and Carnaldiem are absolutely right. But unfortunately, no presidential candidate that appears on network T.V. ever states any of your points. Also, if everyone has to wait so long already then what really is the solid argument against a national health care system?

Walgreens Drug Stores have added small clinics near their pharmacies, offering flu shots and general check ups for things like cold, flu, fever, flem (sp). they are convenient, priced properly and are generally a brilliant idea. they utilize trained MA's, so they have drawbacks that standard clinics and ER's cover with MD's, but great for my sinus infections...nice work, Walgreens...brilliant!

In regard to this topic, you should also consider the health care policies of assisted living facilities and nursing homes. My mother-in-law was a resident of an assisted living facility for about 2 years before her death. Any time that she had the slightest medical complaint (a cough, headache, a slight fever, etc), the facility's policy was to immediately send her to the local emergency room to be "checked out". They would not attempt to provide first aid or commonsense medical care (not even an aspirin) due to liability concerns, and residents were not allowed to keep any first aid items in their rooms. Obviously, you wouldn't want to ignore a true medical emergency, but she was sent to the ER many times for the most trivial complaints. The nurses on duty at the assisted living were instructed to follow these policies by management, without exception--you weren't allowed to wait a couple of days to see your family doctor--you were sent to the ER. The resident herself was not allowed to say "no" to these hospital visits, nor were we the family members given the option to say no. In the course of her 2-year stay, my mother-in-law was sent to the ER more than a dozen times to be "checked out" only to find that there was absolutely nothing wrong. In fact, the hospital staff would often express surprise that she had been sent there and not simply treated at the facility. I would be willing to bet that as more and more elderly people live in these facilities, these practices will place a greater strain on ER services. It seems to be a great waste of both private insurance and Medicare dollars, but I don't have an easy answer. If you refuse to follow the facility's policies, you'll be asked to leave.

The reasons for excess use of ER's is more complex than this article suggests. The declining rate of reimbursements to physicians by Medicare and 3rd party insurances has resulted in physician shortages in many communities. And whether due to malpractice constraints or licensing regulations, physicians are able to do less in the office. The only way to get complete care for an illness is in a hospital emergency room.

Pathetic excuse for journalism. This is an interview with someone supporting their recently published journal article for the AMA. Where are the hard questions?

In short, in Southern California (and other areas, I am sure), it IS the illegal immigrants and uninsured who clog our emergency rooms, forcing closures, and causing this domino effect where the overflow goes to the next ER, and then the next. It is free to them because even though you may issue a bill, they do not pay it because they cannot afford to. Last time we were in the emergency room for our failure-to-thrive baby, we waited four hours in the waiting room and another hour at a bed before we saw a doctor. The rest were the elderly uninsured and illegal immigrants for mild fevers, flu, and head colds.

Mary: Please do the follow up article on: "You also write that the actual number of beds in ERs has gone down, at the same time the need has apparently gone up. Why? That would be a whole other paper???but it has to do with changes in reimbursement and the nursing shortage." Thank you. This is an important topic and thank you for the present article

I am a single mother , working two jobs and still cant afford insurance, and yes I have been in the ER with NO INSURANCE ...but Iam NOT a FREELOADER!!! You must be insured .... house paid for...either no children or they are out of college (all paid for) and your finances are so well established you would not dare allow yourself to be counted among the rest of we Americans that freeload off of the medical system....YOU ARE VERY NARROW MINDED and a liability to this media ....booo on yoooo!!!!