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The obvious consequence would be that people go to the emergency room for any kind of healthcare. That’s a much worse outcome for hospitals so I doubt they wou

The obvious consequence would be that people go to the emergency room for any kind of healthcare. That’s a much worse outcome for hospitals so I doubt they would deny people primary care.

mindslight 3y ago
Have you been to an "emergency" room lately?
- callalex 3y ago
  Nope, and almost everyone reading this hasn’t either. This is not a helpful or productive comment. Instead consider saying “at my last visit to the ER, I encountered many people seeking treatment for XYZ which I do not think should be considered an emergency” or something similar so others can learn from your experience that they don’t have.
  - maxerickson 3y ago
    It's interesting that we just assume it makes sense for the patient to self assess what level of care they need. I wonder if there are sensible reasons to not have a single point of contact for unscheduled care, or if it is just dumb inertia? I know there are some hospitals that have provided urgent care type services at urgent care type prices in their emergency rooms, I haven't looked to see if it worked well or if they are still doing it.
  - mindslight 3y ago
    Spelling out what I implied - my experience has been the exact opposite of how OP is insisting that it should be. I'm not interested in typing up a report of my various experiences with the medical industry and scrubbing it of the right amount of identifying information merely to refute some prognostication that's so abstract it's not even wrong.
- wefarrell 3y ago
  Yes and I have a company that sells to health systems.
mike_d 3y ago
Emergency rooms are already the treatment of last resort for the uninsured. Visit any ER on a Tuesday afternoon in a major city and you'll be stuck in a two hour queue behind what are 95% primary care issues. The $400 Tylenol people love to complain about in the hospital is a direct result of the government mandate to treat thousands of patients a day effectively for free because we can't get our shit together and provide universal healthcare.
- wefarrell 3y ago
  It’s terrible for a hospital’s business to have their ER clogged by people who don’t have emergencies and can’t pay. It means they see a much lower volume of people who can pay. So they aren’t going to deny people primary care because doing so will just cause them to wind up in the ER.
  - mike_d 3y ago
    > It’s terrible for a hospital’s business to have their ER clogged by people who don’t have emergencies and can’t pay. It is already a big enough problem they don't seem to care. Hospitals in less affluent areas are getting interest free loans from the state to keep emergency care from bankrupting them: https://calmatters.org/health/2023/08/california-hospitals-bailout-loans/ https://calmatters.org/health/2023/08/california-hospitals-b... > So they aren’t going to deny people primary care because doing so will just cause them to wind up in the ER. You seem to be confused that I am speaking to some hypothetical future situation. Hospital networks require you to either pay outstanding balances or meet with someone to arrange a payment plan before you can be seen. Taking away the ability to report to credit is only going to make them more aggressive in this practice.
    - wefarrell 3y ago
      I have a company that sells to hospitals, they absolutely care about keeping the wrong people out of the emergency room. “ Hospital networks require you to either pay outstanding balances or meet with someone to arrange a payment plan before you can be seen.” Putting them on a payment plan is not the same thing as forcing them to pay. I believe they would force payment for elective care, not preventative.

The obvious consequence would be that people go to the emergency room for any kind of healthcare. That’s a much worse outcome for hospitals so I doubt they would deny people primary care.

mindslight 3y ago

Have you been to an "emergency" room lately?

callalex 3y ago
Nope, and almost everyone reading this hasn’t either. This is not a helpful or productive comment. Instead consider saying “at my last visit to the ER, I encountered many people seeking treatment for XYZ which I do not think should be considered an emergency” or something similar so others can learn from your experience that they don’t have.
- maxerickson 3y ago
  It's interesting that we just assume it makes sense for the patient to self assess what level of care they need. I wonder if there are sensible reasons to not have a single point of contact for unscheduled care, or if it is just dumb inertia? I know there are some hospitals that have provided urgent care type services at urgent care type prices in their emergency rooms, I haven't looked to see if it worked well or if they are still doing it.
- mindslight 3y ago
  Spelling out what I implied - my experience has been the exact opposite of how OP is insisting that it should be. I'm not interested in typing up a report of my various experiences with the medical industry and scrubbing it of the right amount of identifying information merely to refute some prognostication that's so abstract it's not even wrong.
wefarrell 3y ago
Yes and I have a company that sells to health systems.

mike_d 3y ago

Emergency rooms are already the treatment of last resort for the uninsured. Visit any ER on a Tuesday afternoon in a major city and you'll be stuck in a two hour queue behind what are 95% primary care issues. The $400 Tylenol people love to complain about in the hospital is a direct result of the government mandate to treat thousands of patients a day effectively for free because we can't get our shit together and provide universal healthcare.

wefarrell 3y ago
It’s terrible for a hospital’s business to have their ER clogged by people who don’t have emergencies and can’t pay. It means they see a much lower volume of people who can pay. So they aren’t going to deny people primary care because doing so will just cause them to wind up in the ER.
- mike_d 3y ago
  > It’s terrible for a hospital’s business to have their ER clogged by people who don’t have emergencies and can’t pay. It is already a big enough problem they don't seem to care. Hospitals in less affluent areas are getting interest free loans from the state to keep emergency care from bankrupting them: https://calmatters.org/health/2023/08/california-hospitals-bailout-loans/ https://calmatters.org/health/2023/08/california-hospitals-b... > So they aren’t going to deny people primary care because doing so will just cause them to wind up in the ER. You seem to be confused that I am speaking to some hypothetical future situation. Hospital networks require you to either pay outstanding balances or meet with someone to arrange a payment plan before you can be seen. Taking away the ability to report to credit is only going to make them more aggressive in this practice.
  - wefarrell 3y ago
    I have a company that sells to hospitals, they absolutely care about keeping the wrong people out of the emergency room. “ Hospital networks require you to either pay outstanding balances or meet with someone to arrange a payment plan before you can be seen.” Putting them on a payment plan is not the same thing as forcing them to pay. I believe they would force payment for elective care, not preventative.