[Freakinoldguy]

Lemmy Lemmy:

If people would go to their family doctors instead of Emergency for flus, colds, etc, there'd be no problem. The biggest clog in the system is user-fault, not system fault.

You may be right but in this age of instant gratification people seem to think that they should be able to get get the same type of speedy service from the medical system that they get from their phone plan.

So, given that people bitch about waiting seconds for a download on their iphone can you really expect them to make an appointment to wait and see their family physician.

[andyt]

And if you're sick now, wanting to see a doc now instead of a week from now is not unreasonable. You want to fulminate of how it used to be - the doc made house calls, all hours of the day and night. Man those past generations were entitled folks.

[Brenda]

andyt andyt:

And if you're sick now, wanting to see a doc now instead of a week from now is not unreasonable. You want to fulminate of how it used to be - the doc made house calls, all hours of the day and night. Man those past generations were entitled folks.

I remember the days when the doctor made house calls. When I was a kid...
When I had double pneumonia and a 41 fever a few years ago, I had to go to the doctors office AND the pharmacy myself. I was lucky I didn't have to wait till Monday, but that he could squeeze me in on Friday.

[Freakinoldguy]

andyt andyt:

And if you're sick now, wanting to see a doc now instead of a week from now is not unreasonable. You want to fulminate of how it used to be - the doc made house calls, all hours of the day and night. Man those past generations were entitled folks.

If you're so sick you need to see a doctor immediately go to a clinic, or if it's an emergency then the ER, otherwise make an appointment like most people who try not to abuse the system do.

So what if it takes a day or two the option always remains that if your condition worsens you can still go to the clinic or ER. Most people know when they should be seeing a doctor immediately and if you don't and feel the need to see someone go, don't wait, but a cold or the flu in it's initial stages for healthy people doesn't constitute a medical emergency.

BTW you can make an appointment to see any doctor that's available not just your own doctor and guess what? Since the invention of computers that doctor has access to your medical records just like your normal overworked doctor who likely doesn't remember you till he types your name in the computer does so, this crap about I had to go to the ER because I couldn't see my own doctor that day is just a strawman argument in alot of cases.

And for the record I do remember when doctors made house calls but it wasn't an entitlement like you'd have us to believe and it wasn't abused like you're infering. It was only done when there wasn't any other choice and the reason for that was because our parents didn't want to pay for the house call or waste the doctors time.

I don't know how much you remember but socialized medicine didn't start in Canada till 61 in Saskatchewan and 68 in the rest of Canada so you payed through the nose for medical services hell even having a baby was a glorious event that could cause a family to require a second mortage.

Maybe it's time to stop throwing good money after bad at a system that's failing and find an actual solution that doesn't require returning to the American model.

[bootlegga]

dino_bobba_renno dino_bobba_renno:

Lemmy Lemmy:

If people would go to their family doctors instead of Emergency for flus, colds, etc, there'd be no problem. The biggest clog in the system is user-fault, not system fault.

I totally agree but I think the whole problem centers around the fact that it's next to imposable to see your family doctor in a timely manner. If I book an appointment with my family doc I'm looking at a minimum week wait time. That doesn't do you much good for a flu or cold.

You hit the nail on the head but I think people going to ER for things they should see their family phys. is just a symptom of the actual problem. There aren't enough services avalible for "lesser" conditions.

That sucks - my family doctor can usually get us in same day or at worse, the next day.

[bootlegga]

dino_bobba_renno dino_bobba_renno:

bootlegga bootlegga:

Unsound Unsound:

Problem with that is most of the people who're in ER for booze or solvent related issues... won't have the $25 and won't ever pay it. So then what? Turn them away? Expensive as it is I don't want to live in a place where people who need help get turned away from the hospital.

A little more staffing, and a lot more education about what constitutes an "emergency" would help a lot. Too many people going in cause their cold symptoms haven't gone away after 3 days like the box said. Maybe if GPs where easier to get that would alleve some of that?

That's the point of the new Family Clinics we are opening in Alberta. It allows people to see a doctor outside of regular hours (and when private clinics may be closed) and avoid trips to the ER.

When they opened the NE Clinic a decade ago, it helped ease the strain somewhat on people rushing the Royal Alex. The government is hoping that opening 100 or so of these clinics across the province will do the same thing.

Ya but have you seen the hours those new clinics keep? We’re in no better shape now than we were before.
I honestly don’t know who calls the shots on these clinics or who owns them but from what my family doc has told me there are a handful of private companies that control the majority of them. His clinic was bought out by one of these companies and the hours changed from being open from 8am to 8pm to 10am to 3pm. They then limited walk ins to 1 hour per day and then turned around and wanted to sell client info to drug companies which is why he left that clinic after refusing to sign off his patient info.

I can’t personally think of one single 24 walk in clinic in Calgary. I know when I lived in Edmonton there was one up on Jasper Ave but I haven’t found one here. The government should be regulating the hours these clinics are open if they want these new clinics to have any impact on ER times.

I know that they aren't 24/7, but this one is better than my own family doctor;

$1:

Service hours

Monday 8:30 am - 6:00 pm
Tuesday 8:30 am - 6:00 pm
Wednesday 8:30 am - 6:00 pm
Thursday 8:30 am - 6:00 pm
Friday 8:30 am - 6:00 pm

http://www.albertahealthservices.ca/ser ... id=1088481

It may not be an cure all, but it's a step in the right direction IMHO.

[bootlegga]

jj2424 jj2424:

bootlegga bootlegga:

That's the point of the new Family Clinics we are opening in Alberta. It allows people to see a doctor outside of regular hours (and when private clinics may be closed) and avoid trips to the ER.

When they opened the NE Clinic a decade ago, it helped ease the strain somewhat on people rushing the Royal Alex. The government is hoping that opening 100 or so of these clinics across the province will do the same thing.

Yes REDford claims they're new yet they've been around for 10 years. I've used one for the last couple of years as it's more convenient then making an appointment with your own doctor. They are very efficient with their scheduling, leave your name and they can always tell you how long it will be.
That way you don't have to sit in the waiting room with all the hackers and sneezers , just leave and come back 15 minutes before your estimated time.

I don't know what clinic you are talking about, but the ones I'm talking about are just starting to open, this the new one in East Edmonton...

http://www.albertahealthservices.ca/ser ... id=1088481

[andyt]

Freakinoldguy Freakinoldguy:

If you're so sick you need to see a doctor immediately go to a clinic, or if it's an emergency then the ER,

Exactly. I want to know who these people are who are abusing the system, willing to wait hours in emergency for care they don't really need. I bet they exist only in your imaginations. I mean how often do you go to emergency anyway to observe all these scumsuckers that don't need to be there? Last time I was in ER was over 30 years ago. If you guys are in emergency so much, maybe you're the one abusing the system.

[Scape]

Hot spots: Camden, NJ and Saskatoon, SK

ER hotspots

We need to embrace the medical hot spot model and move away from er's and hospitals. It's just too wasteful otherwise.

[Public_Domain]

[andyt]

Mr_Canada Mr_Canada:

Regina Regina:

The solution is to charge $2-5 for each visit and $25 if you're drunk on booze or solvents. $50 if the police brought you there because they found you on the sidewalk or street.
Place will be empty.

$50 for homelessness?

Sure. Put a lien on their body parts, and when the bill gets high enough, harvest time. Surely they've got some parts that aren't rotten yet.

[Gunnair]

Mr_Canada Mr_Canada:

Regina Regina:

The solution is to charge $2-5 for each visit and $25 if you're drunk on booze or solvents. $50 if the police brought you there because they found you on the sidewalk or street.
Place will be empty.

$50 for homelessness?

[PluggyRug]

Gunnair Gunnair:

Mr_Canada Mr_Canada:

Regina Regina:

The solution is to charge $2-5 for each visit and $25 if you're drunk on booze or solvents. $50 if the police brought you there because they found you on the sidewalk or street.
Place will be empty.

$50 for homelessness?

[Freakinoldguy]

andyt andyt:

Freakinoldguy Freakinoldguy:

If you're so sick you need to see a doctor immediately go to a clinic, or if it's an emergency then the ER,

Exactly. I want to know who these people are who are abusing the system, willing to wait hours in emergency for care they don't really need. I bet they exist only in your imaginations. I mean how often do you go to emergency anyway to observe all these scumsuckers that don't need to be there? Last time I was in ER was over 30 years ago. If you guys are in emergency so much, maybe you're the one abusing the system.

My imagination.

My wife broke her ankle in 3 places a year ago, on a Sunday when the walkin clinics were closed and we sat in the emergency room for 14 fucking hours during which time I saw an array of the real sick and the not so sick types with coughs colds and ear aches who were laughing and having a good time, filling up the waiting list.

Sure there were genuine sick people but alot of the people waiting actually left after a little while and drove to another ER to try and get served, just like you'd do if you were at a restaurant. If they were that sick you'd think they wouldn't be willing to take the chance of leaving.

The only ones not complaining about the wait times were the crackheads wandering the halls of the ER in their hosptial gowns while sick people waited but hey, we wouldn't want the thousand dollar a night for a bed customers to be inconvienenced now would we.

My guess would be that you favor the left wing solution to our health care crisis. Let's raise taxes and throw more money at a dying system instead of fixing the abuses and problems.

But before you think that will work maybe you should read this article from the CMJA.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1913103/

[Brenda]

14 hours???? WTF??? How many heart attacks and car crashes came in that you had to wait for so long??? It's a fucking x-ray and a cast or a bed for reconstructive surgery!

That's ridiculous!