Autumn Daniels went to the hospital with a severe migraine. After four hours in the waiting room, she left to try a different facility — but the ER still charged her.
ER triage is driven by risk of death or serious harm, not by level of suffering
In a system of free healthcare services, I would expect patients with more severe outcomes to be treated first…
Hell if they were kind enough not to bill for the privilege of sitting in a waiting room for hours of suffering, then I might also accept that…
But in a system where I’m being billed hundreds of dollars just for the privilege of being triaged and sitting in your waiting room, you can kindly fuck off with that prioritisation bullshit and get to work on the people who came in first.
But in a system where I’m being billed hundreds of dollars just for the privilege of being triaged and sitting in your waiting room, you can kindly fuck off with that prioritisation bullshit and get to work on the people who came in first.
That’s just not how emergency medicine works. The goal is to save as many lives as possible. If your condition is not immediately life-threatening, you can wait longer than someone having a heart attack or who got shot or who has a shattered femur or something.
In principle I do agree with you - ER care should absolutely prioritise the sickest individuals first, to ensure the least loss of life.
But I can only reconcile that in the case where you are not actively being charged for the privilege of waiting in line.
When everybody in that room is being charged hundreds of dollars for the privilege of suffering in line, then that philosophy can kindly fuck off. See the people who started paying first.
I mean I also believe you shouldn’t be charged for access to emergency medical help at all (tax payer fund it) - but that’s a non-sequitur
The charge isn’t for waiting in line, and it doesn’t increase with time spent in the waiting room. The charge is for whatever they already did. Triaging and vitals are a thing someone is doing. And in emergency medicine, everything is expensive. This is why for those who are able, Urgent Care centers are much more useful than an emergency department. And why we should be prioritizing preventative measures rather than treating the ER like a primary care physician.
(Or, more accurately, why we should become like every other developed nation and have universal healthcare.)
In a system of free healthcare services, I would expect patients with more severe outcomes to be treated first…
Hell if they were kind enough not to bill for the privilege of sitting in a waiting room for hours of suffering, then I might also accept that…
But in a system where I’m being billed hundreds of dollars just for the privilege of being triaged and sitting in your waiting room, you can kindly fuck off with that prioritisation bullshit and get to work on the people who came in first.
That’s just not how emergency medicine works. The goal is to save as many lives as possible. If your condition is not immediately life-threatening, you can wait longer than someone having a heart attack or who got shot or who has a shattered femur or something.
In principle I do agree with you - ER care should absolutely prioritise the sickest individuals first, to ensure the least loss of life.
But I can only reconcile that in the case where you are not actively being charged for the privilege of waiting in line.
When everybody in that room is being charged hundreds of dollars for the privilege of suffering in line, then that philosophy can kindly fuck off. See the people who started paying first.
I mean I also believe you shouldn’t be charged for access to emergency medical help at all (tax payer fund it) - but that’s a non-sequitur
The charge isn’t for waiting in line, and it doesn’t increase with time spent in the waiting room. The charge is for whatever they already did. Triaging and vitals are a thing someone is doing. And in emergency medicine, everything is expensive. This is why for those who are able, Urgent Care centers are much more useful than an emergency department. And why we should be prioritizing preventative measures rather than treating the ER like a primary care physician.
(Or, more accurately, why we should become like every other developed nation and have universal healthcare.)