3 ms·

Medical providers are constantly telling patients not to self-diagnose/self-treat/play google-doctor, but as soon as there is a billing problem, everyone uses t

Medical providers are constantly telling patients not to self-diagnose/self-treat/play google-doctor, but as soon as there is a billing problem, everyone uses that to victim blame. Kind of messed up if you ask me. Personally I am not qualified to determine what a treatable and non-treatable burn looks like. Where I went to school they don't teach that.

gizmo686 3y ago
The ER is not the only place you can go for medical treatment. My order of operations for medical treatment are: 1) Virtual consultation. Free through my insurance. If you need to pay full price, this about as expensive as option 2. Also worth skipping if you can tell that an in person visit will be needed anyway. 2) A clinic. I use CVS's minute clinic. Looking at their price list [0], a minor burn treatment will run you about $100-$150, which is about what I would expect for talking to a professional. 3) Urgent Care 4) Emergency Room [0] https://www.cvs.com/minuteclinic/services/price-lists https://www.cvs.com/minuteclinic/services/price-lists
macNchz 3y ago
A component of this is fear of liability in a highly-litigious environment. Nobody wants to be the one who told someone to wait and see instead of going to the ER, only to have the person wind up dying or suffering serious harm. This is further exacerbated by the limited safety nets in the US–even people who would on principle deign to sue others who tried to help them in a time of bad luck may find that a lawsuit is the only way they'll be able to maintain a decent lifestyle after the loss of a partner, or with a newfound need for long-term care. One more layer is the fact that doctors are so overbooked. Many people cannot reasonably get appointments with their family doctor (if they have one) on short notice, so some things that, in the past, might have been a "wait-til-morning then call the GP to drop in same-day" are now "GP is booked three months out, guess we're going to the hospital".

gizmo686 3y ago

The ER is not the only place you can go for medical treatment. My order of operations for medical treatment are: 1) Virtual consultation. Free through my insurance. If you need to pay full price, this about as expensive as option 2. Also worth skipping if you can tell that an in person visit will be needed anyway. 2) A clinic. I use CVS's minute clinic. Looking at their price list [0], a minor burn treatment will run you about $100-$150, which is about what I would expect for talking to a professional. 3) Urgent Care 4) Emergency Room [0] https://www.cvs.com/minuteclinic/services/price-lists https://www.cvs.com/minuteclinic/services/price-lists

macNchz 3y ago

A component of this is fear of liability in a highly-litigious environment. Nobody wants to be the one who told someone to wait and see instead of going to the ER, only to have the person wind up dying or suffering serious harm. This is further exacerbated by the limited safety nets in the US–even people who would on principle deign to sue others who tried to help them in a time of bad luck may find that a lawsuit is the only way they'll be able to maintain a decent lifestyle after the loss of a partner, or with a newfound need for long-term care. One more layer is the fact that doctors are so overbooked. Many people cannot reasonably get appointments with their family doctor (if they have one) on short notice, so some things that, in the past, might have been a "wait-til-morning then call the GP to drop in same-day" are now "GP is booked three months out, guess we're going to the hospital".