PSA: please do not get sick, injured, or have any other medical emergencies

[cany10011]

Is there any discussion to deprioritize treatment to the unvaccinated if healthcare resources become scarce? 

[+ tassojunior]

4 hours ago, cany10011 said:

Is there any discussion to deprioritize treatment to the unvaccinated if healthcare resources become scarce? 

What becomes scarce? There's nothing there to allot except zoom visits. I just drove by the GWU hospital emergency room with a glass wall emergency waiting room and there were about 100 people waiting where normally there's about 5-10. There's just very few medical people working anywhere. For some reason Urgent Care here seems to be closest to half normal. It's like a national strike of workers.   

Edited January 21, 2022 by tassojunior

[MikeBiDude]

2 hours ago, cany10011 said:

Is there any discussion to deprioritize treatment to the unvaccinated if healthcare resources become scarce? 

There’s a fairly long thread discussing this in the Politics Forum.

[+ Pensant]

No issues with my dentist yet. I go every three months and have for most my life. 

[+ tassojunior]

My dentist's periodontist quit and it's been hard finding another. But cleanings and routine dental have continued. My fear with my dentist is her office is now almost the only one left in a 12-story building on K Street that used to be full. The offices you can see into across the street are 5-10% used also. I'm supposed to have another implant so this may get challenging. 

I went for a routine yearly sonogram yesterday and it took 2 weeks to get a slot, just marginally more than normal.  They told me they're down from 4 to 3 technicians which isn't terrible, just irritating. I stopped by Urgent Care in the same Kaiser building and very sweetly gave them the 3rd degree, and as I thought, they are at near full staff with no real delays so certainly worth the $40 co-pay. My MD's office at Kaiser West End in DC is just absolutely in collapse. So Urgent Care being normal is reassuring critical information. My definition of "Urgent" is when I can't get an appointment for two months with a doctor for something they agree is serious. Zoom visits take longer to set up than real visits used to take and are very limited value. Both my primary care doc and the receptionist I've known for many years have been semi-whispering "try Urgent Care" for months. With Kaiser, in DC, I see why now.  

   

[+ Pensant]

Dermatology appointments are also difficult to secure, so I’ve been making my appointments a year in advance for years: one in early June and one in early October. Already booked for 2022.

[+ Charlie]

I'm one of those old men who don't do Zoom, but our doctors are willing to do visits on FaceTime, and I have found them acceptable for most routine visits. Our GP is very big on preventive care, so we have lots of routine appointments with him and with specialists he refers us to. Of course, that is only realistic when you have MediCare and good supplemental insurance, and can afford to be part of a concierge practice; we pay about $15K/year out of pocket for our medical care, so it's not a practical model for the whole healthcare system.

Last week I twisted my ankle badly; normally I would have gone straight to the ER, but instead I sucked it up and treated myself. I would have to be very seriously ill to go to an ER right now. I did go an urgent care recently for a cactus thorn in my hand which I couldn't manage to remove myself, and I waited three hours for a treatment that took five minutes. Urgent care is a great concept, but if they can't treat it themselves, they usually send you to an ER anyway.

Edited January 24, 2022 by Charlie
Correction

[+ tassojunior]

2 hours ago, Charlie said:

I'm one of those old men who don't do Zoom, but our doctors are willing to do visits on FaceTime, and I have found them acceptable for most routine visits. Our GP is very big on preventive care, so we have lots of routine appointments with him and with specialists he refers us to. Of course, that is only realistic when you have MediCare and good supplemental insurance, and can afford to be part of a concierge practice; we pay about $15K/year out of pocket for our medical care, so it's not a practical model for the whole healthcare system.

Last week I twisted my ankle badly; normally I would have gone straight to the ER, but instead I sucked it up and treated myself. I would have to be very seriously ill to go to an ER right now. I did go an urgent care recently for a cactus thorn in my hand which I couldn't manage to remove myself, and I waited three hours for a treatment that took five minutes. Urgent care is a great concept, but if they can't treat it themselves, they usually send you to an ER anyway.

I think it must depend on the Urgent Care then. At the Kaiser one here they took me right in, diagnosed a blood clot on a CAT scan, had me surrounded by 1 pulmonary spec, another intern and a half dozen nurses in a bed room, kept me 18 hours, ran a lot of the new genetic tests on me, gave me the clot buster shots twice and sent me home with a week's clot buster shot kit and 2 months blood thinner. After 2 months another CAT scan showed clot all gone. Total bill was $100 each copay for the 2 CATs and $100 for the take-home shots kit. I assume Urgent Care is cheaper for Kaiser than ER or hospital bills by far and why they have such a good one here.

OTOH my  Kaiser primary care docs may as well be on Mars now. 

Edited January 24, 2022 by tassojunior

[marylander1940]

On 1/20/2022 at 9:23 PM, tassojunior said:

What becomes scarce? There's nothing there to allot except zoom visits. I just drove by the GWU hospital emergency room with a glass wall emergency waiting room and there were about 100 people waiting where normally there's about 5-10. There's just very few medical people working anywhere. For some reason Urgent Care here seems to be closest to half normal. It's like a national strike of workers.   

Unfortunately we're all paying for the stupidity of others who refuse to get vaccinated. 

Whatever happened to personal responsibility in this country?

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

I had trouble getting through to my doctor to schedule an appointment for an annual physical.  Hold times on the telephone were over 2 hours.  So, I wrote the doctor's office a letter requesting an appointment and put in the mail.  A few days later I received a telephone call back with an appointment.  Sometimes the old ways of communication are best.