4 ms·

It's illegal to turn someone away from the hospital. Access to primary care is another story altogether.

by rdouble 14y ago

bunderbunder 14y ago
It's illegal to turn someone away from the emergency department. For the other 90% of the hospital it's a different story entirely.
- rdouble 14y ago
  Right, but there's no other front line of entry to anywhere else in the hospital. If a person walked to a hospital and demanded to see a brain surgeon they would be turned away even if they had health insurance. A major issue with the american health care system is there is a severe shortage of front line care outside of the ER. This is a side effect of the way doctors are compensated. There is no financial incentive to be a GP, so there aren't enough GPs.
  - bunderbunder 14y ago
    > Right, but there's no other front line of entry to anywhere else in the hospital. Yes there is. It's called a "primary care provider", and many of them have their offices right there in the hospital. Though the ones who operate out of separate clinics can often be less expensive, if not more conveniently located. If you don't already have one, you really should. The emergency department really hates it when people clog up their waiting rooms by going there with non-emergency issues instead of seeing a PCP. And your health insurance (assuming you have it) really hates it when you drive up their costs by going to the ED instead of seeing a PCP. And, if there were any price transparency in the American system, then your fellow citizens would also really hate it when you force the health insurance company to drive up their costs by going to the ED instead of seeing a PCP.
    - rdouble 14y ago
      Both of my parents are primary care providers. The offices of GPs usually are not located in a hospital, unless the hospital is part of a large integrated HMO like Kaiser Permanente. There is a trend in the USA of building large medical "campuses" where primary care has their offices in a separate wing somewhere.
scarecrowbob 14y ago
I think that most people are aware of that fact. If you do not have effective access to care until all they can do is give you a bunch of pain killers, they are effectively "refusing to treat people".

It's illegal to turn someone away from the hospital. Access to primary care is another story altogether.

by rdouble 14y ago

It's illegal to turn someone away from the hospital. Access to primary care is another story altogether.

It's illegal to turn someone away from the emergency department. For the other 90% of the hospital it's a different story entirely.

rdouble 14y ago
Right, but there's no other front line of entry to anywhere else in the hospital. If a person walked to a hospital and demanded to see a brain surgeon they would be turned away even if they had health insurance. A major issue with the american health care system is there is a severe shortage of front line care outside of the ER. This is a side effect of the way doctors are compensated. There is no financial incentive to be a GP, so there aren't enough GPs.
- bunderbunder 14y ago
  > Right, but there's no other front line of entry to anywhere else in the hospital. Yes there is. It's called a "primary care provider", and many of them have their offices right there in the hospital. Though the ones who operate out of separate clinics can often be less expensive, if not more conveniently located. If you don't already have one, you really should. The emergency department really hates it when people clog up their waiting rooms by going there with non-emergency issues instead of seeing a PCP. And your health insurance (assuming you have it) really hates it when you drive up their costs by going to the ED instead of seeing a PCP. And, if there were any price transparency in the American system, then your fellow citizens would also really hate it when you force the health insurance company to drive up their costs by going to the ED instead of seeing a PCP.
  - rdouble 14y ago
    Both of my parents are primary care providers. The offices of GPs usually are not located in a hospital, unless the hospital is part of a large integrated HMO like Kaiser Permanente. There is a trend in the USA of building large medical "campuses" where primary care has their offices in a separate wing somewhere.

scarecrowbob 14y ago

I think that most people are aware of that fact. If you do not have effective access to care until all they can do is give you a bunch of pain killers, they are effectively "refusing to treat people".