Interesting contributed post today on why the medical system is hard to handle. Let us know what you think in the comments!
Everyone has a medical emergency in their life, and some of us are unlucky enough to have quite a few over the course of our lifetime. That means we become intimately acquainted with the waiting room of the doctor’s office, and the ER knows us by name. Yet, these often aren’t pleasurable experiences by any means.
So if you’ve just had a sickness that took a while to get over, whether it was an injury or serious condition, you already had plenty to deal with. On top of that, you definitely didn’t want to be tangling with the ER or the doctors that just didn’t have time for you on top of it all! Being prepared with a little knowledge in case it happens again, or someone you love needs to take a trip to the hospital, is key to making it go a little smoother.
So, here’s why the medical system is getting worse and worse, and not at its own fault.
Doctors are Rushed Off Their Feet
The medical system is trying its best, but often the rules and regulations that are put in place for it don’t work as well for the health field’s considerations. This is essential to remember, as getting worked up in the waiting room often won’t get you anywhere. Similarly, when you finally get into the session with a physician, focusing on your health problem is going to get you out of there quicker than taking a sidebar. The doctors are always here to help after all, even if they took 3 hours to get to you.
The doctors we go to see for the good of our health often don’t have any longer than 7 minutes to talk to us, and we’re not going to be able to go over all the information and possible solutions in that time. Of course, there’s some horror stories out there. And sure, we like to know what are the common causes of surgical errors, but these only happen in a select few cases. They’re not representative of what doctors can do for us at the end of the day.
Because of the Long Wait
So there’s a long wait at the ER because of all the procedures that are going on ahead of us, and thus we have to sit around for quite a bit of time. Surrounded by people in similar states or worse, it can get extremely stressful to just sit around. This isn’t what we want to pile on top of ourselves when we’re already coping with an issue that’s ever present, and thus navigating these waiting rooms is essential.
In general, performances in the ER department are based on a 4 hour rule, in which you should be in and out during that length of time. It can feel like a lot longer, but when you know that everyone is treated equally in this way, you can feel a lot better. It doesn’t sound like a good sign, but hospitals that have longer waiting times are often more trustworthy places than those that allow you to be seen straight away. While it immediately sounds like a good thing, a shorter waiting time can often be a sign of medical malpractice.
With more and more people needing to be seen by a doctor because of the planet’s ever expanding human population, the few doctors we do have can be forgiven for taking a while to get through a backlog of cases. Picking the right time to go to the hospital also matters, as working hours often mean you have a better chance of being seen in good time by a doctor that isn’t rushed off of their feet. (You could also book an appointment with your own physician in the same time, as this is often a better way to be seen by someone who knows you and knows how you present your problems.) Later nights and weekends always means a lot of legwork for nurses, and with the amount of drunk people that can stumble through the door, limelight is taken away from those who truly need help.
Often We Don’t Seek the Right Help
When it comes to having any kind of symptoms, we just like to get them checked out to make sure it’s nothing serious. However, when it comes to having a cold or the flu, going to the doctor’s office is the last thing we actually want to do. There’s a huge chance we could infect other people around us that already have a lowered immune system, and thus we can become part of the problem!
So, before you decide a trip to the hospital is in order, make sure you know all your options. Often we can use alternatives to the traditional medicinal routes, and these can be just as effective as a course of antibiotics. It’s also a lot easier and often cheaper to try and get to the route of a problem by visiting a pharmacist and simply asking their opinion, or picking up the phone and calling a medical helpline for friendly advice that’s always available.
Coping with the Cost
Often enough we can cope with the rest of a visit to the ER and getting any kind of surgery done. It’s the money you have to pay after the ordeal is over that really gets us. Even with insurance this can get very hefty!
It’s because of this factor that a lot of people decide to stay at home and cope with their ailments by themselves, which doesn’t do anyone a favor! Usually we have a savings account in place for these kinds of emergencies, but often people don’t get that luxury either. It’s then people turn to crowdfunding and the like to get the money they desperately need, which reveals a lot about the state of healthcare!
This list of considerations alone is a lot to handle, but hopefully they can make the ins and outs of a medical emergency easier.
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