Grunt Doc is whining about having to deal with patients who present to his ER at night with non-emergent health problems, and I can’t say as I blame him….
I’m just tired of being an emergency physician who works an expensive after-hours clinic. The case that set this off was “I have a toothache for three weeks, and I want to be checked for a discharge I’ve had since my miscarriage”. How long ago was your miscarriage? “5 months”.
Traditional health plan members who switched to high-deductible coverage visited the emergency department less frequently than controls, with reductions occurring primarily in repeat visits for conditions that were not classified as high severity, and had decreases in the rate of hospitalizations from the emergency department.
But don’t get too excited yet. Because the higher deductible (HDHP) approach might backfire among the poorer folks.
…reductions in high-severity visits among high-deductible health plan (HDHP)members living in low-income areas …could imply worse outcomes compared with counterparts in traditional plans. Further study is needed regarding long-term utilization patterns in HDHPs, the effect of HDHPs on health outcomes, and effects on low-income populations.
There’s just no simple answer to this one.
But, hey, I’ve got a great idea for a new sitcom. We’ll call it Night Clinic. Wacky patient characters with not so urgent medical problems will have us rolling in the corridors as they annoy the tired ER docs with their crazy antics. Harry Anderson can play the head ER doc. Do you think that really tall guy is free? He’d be great as the triage nurse, or maybe the nightime radiology tech…
