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Free healthcare "access for all" sounds great and makes people sleep better at night but geez is the system crappy.

Posted by James Bond (aka Igor) (aka Igor) Jul 27 '13, 21:07

Some free clinic primary doc referred a patient to the ER for "immediate admission for work-up of cancer" Yeaaa buddy, that doesn't qualify for admission. The guy has had months of abdominal pain, likely cancer (given some other symptoms, but maybe not). He needs an endoscopy and a colonoscopy. There is nothing emergent. So I call a GI fellow and they will squeeze him into their clinic in 3 days. (yay!). I also said as a side note, how long does it take to get an endoscopy. She said if they push everything quickly maybe 2 months!

2 months! I can't imagine being that guy with abd pain and having to wait 2 months to get an endoscopy. It will take then 1 week to get biopsy results. If it is cancer then he will need to get an appt with oncology which also takes a few weeks probably.
So crazy.
If you have insurance you can likely get an endoscopy/colonoscopy within a week (if not next day if you make enough calls)

It is great that this free care exists but geez it sucks.

Responses:

Just as a counter point... My friend got her cancer diagnosis from her GP and saw her oncologist the next day. The day - Andie Jul 28, 06:53 1
- I am just saying our system sucks. I am sure others are able to do a good job. -- nm - James Bond (on phone) Jul 28, 08:17
The doctor who took my gallbladder out has an 8 week waiting list. She's apparently THE gallbladder surgeon in Boise. - Trish Jul 28, 03:05
in my experience with healthcare in a few countries now you can get things done faster if you know people in the system. everything else matters less. -- nm - mafic Jul 28, 01:36
Cancer related diagnosis means max one month wait until diagnosis and treatment plan here - Doctor Tarr And Professor Fether Jul 28, 00:26
I now know what the drug that killed Michael Jackson feels like. -- nm - Bacon on Google Nexus 10 Jul 27, 22:03 3
- Are you talking about fentanyl? I got that for a couple of days post-op. I was in so much pain when they sent me from the ER to St. Luke's in Boise, I - Trish Jul 27, 22:46 2
  - propofol? is a drug used in surgury that mj loved.. -- nm - zeitgeist Jul 27, 22:53 1
    - Yes it was this -- nm - Bacon on Google Nexus 10 Jul 28, 07:36
well in theory this guy would have been seen years ago and found when it was just a lesion, now he ahs terminal - zeitgeist Jul 27, 21:19
Fast, Cheap, Effective: Pick Any One. -- nm - Beryllium Jul 27, 21:12
I have insurance and it took me three weeks to get an endoscopy and colonoscopy which I had yesterday. - Bacon Jul 27, 21:10 13
- I feel like if you really wanted it faster you can just call around the GI docs and get one faster. -- nm - James Bond (aka Igor) Jul 27, 21:19 7
  - I got a request from my primary care and the soonest one I could find was 3 weeks. I had abnormal blood work and still couldn't get it faster. -- nm - Bacon Jul 27, 21:20 6
    - Abnormal blood work as in anemia? -- nm - James Bond (aka Igor) Jul 27, 21:22 5
      - Yeah, he thought I might have bleeding in my large intestine or cancer. - Bacon Jul 27, 21:24 4
        
        What was your Hemoglobin? -- nm - James Bond (aka Igor) Jul 27, 21:26 1
        
        I don't remember, and like a dork I didn't ask for the blood work results. But it was low enough for the doctor to order the two tests -- nm - Bacon Jul 27, 21:27
        
        My Mom also has many polyps in her stomach so it's probably genetic. Her's don't bleed though. -- nm - Bacon Jul 27, 21:25 1
        
        I got a nice set of pictures of mine too. -- nm - Bacon Jul 27, 21:26
- Ouch. In several ways. - Beryllium Jul 27, 21:13 3
  - The endoscopy/colonoscapy was a breeze, the 36 hour prep was the only bad part. -- nm - Bacon Jul 27, 21:15 2
    - Wait.. 36 hour prep? WTF. My inpatients get about 12-16 hours of prep. - James Bond (aka Igor) Jul 27, 21:20 1
      - The bad prep is 22 hours yes. I added the can't eat seeds, nuts, multigrains etc into that prep time -- nm - Bacon Jul 27, 21:22
- that was the first appointment available. -- nm - Bacon Jul 27, 21:11

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Free healthcare "access for all" sounds great and makes people sleep better at night but geez is the system crappy.

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