4 ms·

It’s strange that it takes such a ridiculous amount of time to see a doctor. Every time I need one this is the standard procedure: Are you dying? - Yes: call 9

It’s strange that it takes such a ridiculous amount of time to see a doctor. Every time I need one this is the standard procedure: Are you dying? - Yes: call 911 and go to the emergency room - No: wait weeks to see PCP or months for specialists - Don’t know: go to urgent care and they’ll decide between 911 and waiting few months If you’re not dying, like say you’re in extreme pain but doctors determine you can wait a few weeks to see the right specialist, emergency room or urgent care will send you back with pain medications and say “only take them if you need it otherwise they can be habit forming”. Then you wait till you see the right doctor. This is not how medicine should work. You can’t say that the country has the best healthcare in the world if you have to wait months to receive it.

nine_k 4y ago
But this is how it works in many places in Europe, like Germany or Netherlands.
- morsch 4y ago
  No, it isn't. I can see my Primary Care Physician (PCP) same- or next-day (or a rotating replacement on the weekend) and this is true for pretty much everybody in Germany. Appointments with specialists can take longer, and many do report waiting weeks or months, though this has not been my experience at all and I usually get an appointment within days or, rarely, a few weeks. Ymmv, I think it mostly depends on where you live, how flexible you are, if you're willing to call another specialist practice when the first is booked and whether you're insistent. And on the specialty, obviously, I'm sure there are some that are perpetually overbooked, which I was fortunate to not need myself so far. There's an artificial limit on the number of medical practices in Germany, as well. Incidentally, my relatives who live in more rural areas seem to think nothing of driving twenty minutes for every trivial thing sometimes multiple times day, but driving 90 minutes to see a specialist twice a year is totally out of the question.
- alphager 4y ago
  > But this is how it works in many places in Europe, like Germany or Netherlands. Nope. I can see my Primary care physician today if I wanted to. It's currently 10:55 AM. If I had called before 9, I would have gotten a scheduled slot. If i wanted to see him now I'd have to go to the open office hour and wait 30-60 minutes. For urgent (not emergency) stuff, the 4 hospitals in my city have daily open office hours with specialists. Without an appointment, you usually wait 1-2 hours (unless they prioritize you due to pain). For non-urgent things like a diagnostic MRI "just to check", you'd wait 1-2 weeks for your appointment. There are two exceptions to this: We got a lack of dermatologists and psychologists and you'd probably wait 2-3 months for an appointment.
- yurishimo 4y ago
  I can't speak for Germany, but here in the Netherlands, I can get an appointment for same or next day if I call the doctor's office early enough. Now, unless I really have something wrong with me, the treatment will probably be "take 2 paracetamol and come back in 2 weeks if you don't feel better", but that is a different problem from not getting an appointment at all.
laurencerowe 4y ago
Being in extreme pain sounds like something that should be dealt with promptly but a balance should be struck here given all societies face real resource limits. There comes a point where spending more money on healthcare means there is less to spend on social support and that leads to worse health outcomes because poverty is a huge fe of ill health. To take it to the extreme, nobody wants to live in a society made up only of doctors where there is no food to eat. Living in the US I certainly feel I have been offered excess healthcare, tests given routinely that would JIT be ordered in other countries with better health outcomes. I suspect these are provided to reduce the amount spent lawyers so maybe it saves money in the end given the peculiarities of the US.
kozzz 4y ago
Same in Israel

nine_k 4y ago

But this is how it works in many places in Europe, like Germany or Netherlands.

morsch 4y ago
No, it isn't. I can see my Primary Care Physician (PCP) same- or next-day (or a rotating replacement on the weekend) and this is true for pretty much everybody in Germany. Appointments with specialists can take longer, and many do report waiting weeks or months, though this has not been my experience at all and I usually get an appointment within days or, rarely, a few weeks. Ymmv, I think it mostly depends on where you live, how flexible you are, if you're willing to call another specialist practice when the first is booked and whether you're insistent. And on the specialty, obviously, I'm sure there are some that are perpetually overbooked, which I was fortunate to not need myself so far. There's an artificial limit on the number of medical practices in Germany, as well. Incidentally, my relatives who live in more rural areas seem to think nothing of driving twenty minutes for every trivial thing sometimes multiple times day, but driving 90 minutes to see a specialist twice a year is totally out of the question.
alphager 4y ago
> But this is how it works in many places in Europe, like Germany or Netherlands. Nope. I can see my Primary care physician today if I wanted to. It's currently 10:55 AM. If I had called before 9, I would have gotten a scheduled slot. If i wanted to see him now I'd have to go to the open office hour and wait 30-60 minutes. For urgent (not emergency) stuff, the 4 hospitals in my city have daily open office hours with specialists. Without an appointment, you usually wait 1-2 hours (unless they prioritize you due to pain). For non-urgent things like a diagnostic MRI "just to check", you'd wait 1-2 weeks for your appointment. There are two exceptions to this: We got a lack of dermatologists and psychologists and you'd probably wait 2-3 months for an appointment.
yurishimo 4y ago
I can't speak for Germany, but here in the Netherlands, I can get an appointment for same or next day if I call the doctor's office early enough. Now, unless I really have something wrong with me, the treatment will probably be "take 2 paracetamol and come back in 2 weeks if you don't feel better", but that is a different problem from not getting an appointment at all.

laurencerowe 4y ago

Being in extreme pain sounds like something that should be dealt with promptly but a balance should be struck here given all societies face real resource limits. There comes a point where spending more money on healthcare means there is less to spend on social support and that leads to worse health outcomes because poverty is a huge fe of ill health. To take it to the extreme, nobody wants to live in a society made up only of doctors where there is no food to eat. Living in the US I certainly feel I have been offered excess healthcare, tests given routinely that would JIT be ordered in other countries with better health outcomes. I suspect these are provided to reduce the amount spent lawyers so maybe it saves money in the end given the peculiarities of the US.

kozzz 4y ago

Same in Israel