3 ms·
great anecdote and when you're having heart arrhythmia, since it is too expensive to send you to a specialist and hook you up to one of those EKG devices, why
by alt_f4 7y ago
great anecdote
and when you're having heart arrhythmia, since it is too expensive to send you to a specialist and hook you up to one of those EKG devices, why not just do a series of 20 pushups and 20 squats and see if you'll collapse?
alternatively, we could have a system where patients are entitled to some basic care, but hey..
- Stratoscope 7y agoI don't quite see the connection. It seems unlikely that my doctor and his assistant would treat heart arrhythmia the same as a sore finger. And no one said I couldn't have an X-ray. They merely offered me a faster and less expensive diagnostic procedure at my own option.
- alt_f4 7y agoeh, it's just a reductio ad absurdum argument The underlying point is that it'd be nice if you are able to get first world care instead of "lifehacks" for a range of very common conditions, given that you're insured, and not have to pay a giant deductible.
- tdhoot 7y agoI think it depends on the efficacy of the cheaper procedure. It's rare for the cheaper procedure to be as accurate as the more expensive one. If you knew the tuning fork was 80% accurate and an x-ray 100% accurate, would you still take it? I'd personally pay extra to make sure I was diagnosed correctly.
- robocat 7y agoIt depends upon the medical issue, how much you can afford, and how much you know about the downsides if you should have the issue. If it looks straight, a hairline fracture will heal properly if unstressed for a few weeks. Probably not a huge risk if wrong. You could constrain a broken finger yourself if you are any good at looking up information and applying it.
- alt_f4 7y agoBut if it heals wrong, the fix is to have it broken again by a specialist and constrained. it hurts as hell and costs 3x as much. Hence, going back to the point about large deductibles for simple procedures being total bullshit..
- dragonwriter 7y ago> If it looks straight, a hairline fracture will heal properly if unstressed for a few weeks. If the fracture isn't diagnosed and the person is one who tends to engage in the kinds of activities that lead to a suspected potential fracture of the bone in question, it probably won't be unstressed for a few weeks.
- dragonwriter 7y agoFrom the initial story the tuning fork would be followed up by an x-ray on a positive result; so you don't really care about overall accuracy but false negative rate (since a higher false positive rate than x-ray is immaterial, since the follow-up x-ray constraints the false positive rate.) While the exact test done may not be common, its very common for any of a variety of broadly similar (in that they work by inducing motion which will almost certainly be quite painful if there is a fracture and but usually be tolerable otherwise) "does this hurt" tests to be used in a similar role with suspected fractures, and an x-ray only ordered if they indicate a likely fracture.
- Stratoscope 7y agoIndeed you have it right. In fact the PA did go through a whole set of range of motion and "does it hurt" tests which all indicated no fracture. The tuning fork was just a last check to verify that, and of course I had the option to go get an X-ray if I wanted it regardless. I just didn't see any need at that point, since the treatment would just end up being "take it easy on your hand and don't engage in any sports for a while."