Wow, I’m sorry you went through that. Hope you’re feeling better now! (And better tomorrow ;).)
Here’s one thing I’m picking up from this discussion:
On the original thread I touched on it, but now I see a better way to articulate it.
The ER really should serve two purposes. Screening (is *emergency* care needed?) and treatment (if *emergency* care is needed).
If the ER screened and then turned away people who did not need *emergency* treatment, they would have a lot more time and resources to do better screening.
Hells Bells, most of the time I can pick out several patients in the waiting room who are going to end up receiving NO TREATMENT WHATSOEVER, yet are clogging up the system for many, many hours. The biggest example of this is the baby brought in because she has a cough, a runny nose, or “can’t breath” (excuse me?), yet while in the waiting room, she sits there playing happily with the magazines, crawling around, laughing at Grandma, making faces at bystanders, etc. In short, the baby that most parents realize is is NO WAY in an emergency situation.
That baby should have been screened and released immediately in one fell swoop. There is nothing that is going to happen in the back beyond what the intake nurse with temperature and other vitals. Give mom a flier that says give your baby TLC, plenty of fluids, rest and a warm bath if fussy. Please.
Because the ER starts with the assumption that EVERY PATIENT will get some kind of examination by a doctor (add four hours) and then some kind of “treatment” (even if it’s “rest, fluids, etc.”) and some kind of prescription (for OTC pain relivers or Pepto Bismal . . . basic Dr. Mom stuff), no patient ever gets bumped out of line without completing a often worthless 8-10 hour stint.
ERs should screen and release if no emergency is found and there is no indication of the need for additional tests.
This, I think, would allow ERs to improve their screening process for everyone.
Naaaahhhh, it's better if the tyke continues to '...sit there play happily with the magazines, crawl around, laugh at Grandma, make faces at bystanders...'
That way when she catches the galloping-never-get-overs from someone actually sick enough to need to be in an ER, her next emergency trip won't be a total waste....
I think our hospital was doing screening, which is why everyone entered one door but got directed either left or right depending.
People are using emergency because they don’t want to pay the bills (if they have no insurance).
Sad thing is that out of those three visits, one doctor appeared twice and he was useless both times.