Nursefriendly.com: Emergency Physicians

Monday, April 11, 2011

McDonald's Medicine: Too Impatient to Wait for Care, Time

Doctor asks, "Why did you come to the ER today?"

This question — emphasizing today is common practice in emergency departments — helps us figure out how urgent a patient's illness might be. But it's a loaded question. Rephrased, it could easily mean, "Do you really believe you are seriously ill, or is it just that you couldn't wait to see a regular doctor?"

Behind the sanctimony is a cliché: McDonald's medicine. Spend time in a busy ER and you'll hear a recurrent theme among the harried staff: patients in the U.S. want their health care like they want their food — served up speedily and made "your way." According to the conventional wisdom among medical professionals, overcrowding in the ER is exacerbated by America's culture of instant gratification. (See Healthland's 5 rules for good health in 2011.)

via time.com

Click on the "via" link for the rest of the article.

With the high value we put on Instant Gratification, have to say they have a point here.

******************************************************
For Health Information you can use, Follow, Connect, Like us on (Most Invites Accepted):
http://www.nursefriendly.com/social/

Twitter!
http://www.nursefriendly.com/twitter

Facebook:
http://www.nursefriendly.com/facebook

What's New:
http://www.nursefriendly.com/new/

Blogger:
http://4nursing.blogspot.com/

Linked In:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/nursefriendly

Nursing Entrepreneurs, Nurses In Business
http://nursingentrepreneurs.ning.com/

StumbleUpon,
http://www.nursefriendly.com/stumbleupon
******************************************************

Sincerely,

Andrew Lopez, RN
Nursefriendly, Inc. A New Jersey Corporation.
38 Tattersall Drive, Mantua New Jersey 08051
http://www.nursefriendly.com info@nursefriendly.com ICQ #6116137
856-415-9617, (fax) 415-9618

150,000 + Nurse-Reviewed & Approved Nursing Links

http://www.4nursing.com
http://www.legalnursingconsultant.com
http://www.nursinghumor.com
http://www.nursefriendly.com
http://www.nursingcasestudy.com
http://www.nursingentrepreneurs.com
http://www.nursingexperts.com

Should Emergency Departments Turn Away Nonurgent Patients? - TIME

A few weeks ago, the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) launched a campaign to derail proposed policies to reduce the use of emergency departments (EDs). ACEP's problem with the campaign is the logic that underpins it: policymakers think that ED use, in aggregate, is a costly problem and a major driver of unnecessary health care costs in the U.S. ACEP claims that rather than delivering unnecessary care, EDs treat many patients who have no alternative when they need comprehensive medical care in a timely manner; that is, EDs deliver altogether necessary care.

ACEP has challenged reports from South Carolina and Massachusetts suggesting that a high percentage of ED use is unnecessary and that reform efforts — particularly payment incentives — will reduce "inappropriate" usage. In South Carolina, a state legislator, Representative Bill Herbkersman, even recommended that special call boxes be placed in the homes of more than 3,000 Medicaid patients to give them 24-hour access to nurses who could diagnose them over the phone and reduce costly and unnecessary ED visits. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia has also increased the co-pay on ED visits from $100 to $200 and has been steering its members away from EDs to urgent-care centers and retail clinics (with the help of a Google Maps application, soon be available as an app for members' mobile phones).