ER Pet Peeves

They have to do a pregnancy test on anyone of chidbearing age for quality control reasons. Also because an untold number of people will lie about having sex and actually be pregnant (some of them deliver and deny sex).

You went to the ER for a lump on your labia??? You got in quickly by most hospital standards. Hope all was OK.

I know policies regarding pregnancy tests. I was saying that they were unprofessional and didn't acknowledge any of my concerns. Their remarks were innappropriate and do not warrant any sort of defense.

I didn't go into detail on the other issue but I assure you it justified an ER trip... and there were three patients in the waiting room and staff just sitting around.. for every negative ER experience, (I HOPE) there are ten good ones.

Even though you deleted your post I am going to respond anyway.

You asked if we felt better since you were billed for services you never paid for and it ruined your credit. No, that doesn't make me feel better at all. I hate to see anyone's credit ruined but there are a couple of things you really need to realize before you assume we are all jumping on you.

Just because you didn't pay for your medical care doesn't mean nobody else did. Lots of people that really can't afford it still pay anyway, they make monthly payments or something they can manage. So THOSE people are paying for your medical care while they have a hard time affording their own.

You explained in the post that you deleted that you went there BECAUSE you couldn't afford to go to a private doctor. NOW you claim it really was an emergency. ????

If there were only three patients in the ER waiting to be seen it's likely you didn't go to a county facility but a private facility instead. County is for folks that can't afford their own medical care. Sorry, I don't mean to sound blunt but it's true.

When you use a private facility just please remember, just because you aren't paying for your medical care, that doesn't mean others who can't afford to pay for your medical care aren't paying for it anyway.

The main hospital chain here in Phoenix has adopted a new policy to deal with issues like this. They won't refuse anyone a diagnosis, but they will refuse them treatment. They will be triaged, seen in order of severity, seen by a medical provider and if it is not life threatening they are sent to county for treatment. Even if that just means an Rx for abx, the docs will not give it to them. They are referred to county to get their Rx. So they really didn't save any time at all in going to a private facility. Instead they are having to wait in two ERs.

This practice has saved the private facility from bankruptcy.

I didn't say either of those things.. that I didn't pay my bill nor that I went because I couldn't afford the regular doctor. I was making a point that there should be a little empathy for uninsured pts because there are a million different circumstances for why they are uninsured, and also- if they were on government assistance, they would recieve criticism for that.

Can't please everyone.

Ok, return the the pet peeves, some of these are really good.

Hmmm.. Perhaps I am thinking of another post. Problem is, the post went away so I can't provide quotes. However, if it is still there and written by another, and I'm just not finding it, my apologies.

Edit to add: You are correct, empathy should be given for uninsured patients. That's why we pay taxes for county facilities. That's what they are for, people who can't afford to pay their bills. Going to a private facility knowing one isn't going to pay for their own medical care is no less than stealing. It is no different from writing a check off of the hospital's checking account and stealing the money.

As for knocking Medicaid patients, that's just not true. The issue of frustration is watching medicaid patients abuse services because they can. BIG HUGE difference between those folks and the sincere folks. Just because someone is on Medicaid isn't a right to abuse the system, it just isn't.