Waiting for Appts

[tgyurkiw]

Hi

Just venting but the major thing with an auto immune disorder whether it be Doctors appts, MRi's evoke potential tests ect is that we all wait months for a simple 5 miniute appointment. We wait months for an MRI, we wait months for the results and all the time inbetween we feel like crap.
It just doesnt seem fair. And most of the time the Doctors look at us like we have 3 heads and wonder or say "you can't possibly be in pain" AHHH the world of medicine. It cetainly is not a perfect one.

Take Care
Tom

[Scooter24]

Tom- If you don't mind me asking what state do you live in, I keep hearing on this forum how people wait months for appointments and can't understand it, the longest I have had to wait was 2 months to see a ms specialist for a second opinion at wake forest, otherwise a week is max normally, I have even gotten an MRI the same day if they called to schedule it early in the day. I am now under care at the VA and the appointments are only 2-3 weeks out at that point for follow ups etc. Is your dr not able to find a place for you to go to sooner? have you asked? just seems strange to me, I have lived in CA, NJ and NC not in major cities either and never seemed to have this problem. Just wondering

[tgyurkiw]

Canada

Hi

I live in Canada that is why. When you pay for health insursance things seem to move along a little faster. And I am a currently serving Canadain forces member

[CindyLou77]

Hi Tom...please do not make the Canadian Health system out to be bad. Yes there are some wait times, I am not denying that, but can you imagine what it would be like not being able to afford things like an MRI and going without? I have heard of American women that have died of breast cancer because they had NO insurance and could not afford a doctors visit. I will wait a bit longer and still be happy that we have UNIVERSAL health care...sorry for ranting...it just bothers me.

[rdmc]

I hate wait times...and no system's perfect. Here's a story from a Canadian site about a lady who came to the US because she couldn't get an MRI...and she had to pay out of pocket at Mayo to find out she had cancer.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manito...s-balagus.html

But as to wait times...yep we have them here too. I have great insurance, but my doctors are so darn busy. Maybe we're sicker down here, LOL, or maybe because I live in an area with a large elderly population. But I wait about a month to get into my GP (if it's an emergency...i.e. something acute like a respiratory infection or UTI they refer me to a walk in.) Basically in our area, the GPs manage care but are lousy at dealing with short term problems. My neuro, same thing, long time to get an appt...even if I'm having a problem, it's like pulling teeth to try to get in within a week. I had surgery recently and the hospital told me I should follow up with the surgeon in 3 weeks. I called the surgeon's office and told them I was to be seen in 3 weeks...well they didn't have an appt. for 5 weeks, and didn't seem too concerned about that.

I think where one lives, and how large the metro area has a lot to do with the wait times. There are physician shortages in metro areas, and lots of people, thus the waits.

In the US we don't usually wait for tests (I think that's because we live in a very litigious society.) If it was found that not having a test resulted in your death, the doc would probably be slapped with a lawsuit. So, IMO, some doctors are "test happy" and to cover themselves order too many tests (that's just from personal experience.)

P.S. If you're poor and have a health problem w/no insurance, you can walk into a public hospital and they have to treat you, at least in the short term. But they will run tests to determine the problem. I've mentioned it before, but I had pneumonia, was in the ER, the homeless man in the next cubicle also had pneumonia. We ended up on the same floor, both treated by the same pulmonology doc, both getting IV antibiotics...he was just across the hall. I left before he was released and don't know how many days he spent in the hospital. So it is a fallacy that indigent folks in the US don't have access to treatment. As I said though, it's in the short term. Treatment through Medicaid (our medical system for the poor) is harder to get because you have to find a doctor who'll accept it, and for those who have no insurance, but don't qualify for Medicaid, there are private state pools...but they are expensive.

So to finish with the statement I started with...no system is perfect. And yes, I hate wait times too.

[Scooter24]

Ok that makes sense now, my wife is english and I know how long they wait for appointments under the national health care system there, her mom passed away while waiting for heart testing from a severe heart attack. I am amazed though that you don't get better treatment thru the military, as I said I get mine thru the veterans hospital and it is the best I have gotten to this point, they are paying for things that my insurance thru my wifes co would not such as a walk aide. My small copay is still much less than we would have to pay to have me on her insurance since her co dropped family coverage as of the first of the year.

[0485c10]

i thought in the UK a person can opt to use a public system, pay privately to get appointments sooner. Do they have that option in Canada, or is the public system the only access a person has for health care?

[leahchris]

Indian Health Service

I use the IHS here in the states. It is much the same way. But after I learned the proper process to go through, they have been great. They are paying for me to see an MS specialist and they do all my MRIs, blood tests, etc. They are a little slow, but for the self-employed w/o health insurance, it's great. Thank God for my Cherokee ancestors.