NYC emergency rooms

[Nugget]

There are two sets of waiting at the ER. Was the OP talking about the wait to get treatment itself or the treatment process.

Most of the hospitals have a triage system so that the waiting rooms always look full as the less urgent cases (such as the colds, sore throats, etc.) wait for a long time. Ambulance cases will usually go through to treatment but often the treatment involves waiting for x-rays, actual treatment areas themselves and available medical specialists if one is needed.

I've been to St. Lukes and Bellevue and both times triage has taken about 10 minutes although treatment itself took another 6 hours. Broken bones in both cases.

[Kefir King]

Are insurance companies sympatico with these emergency joints? HMO's? Medicare?

[BugsyPal]

Originally Posted by brianNYC92

When my ex passed out drunk in the bathroom and cut her chin falling into the bathtub, I took her to NYU medical center on 32nd Street & 1st Avenue. We went to the ER and told the nurse at the admission and immediately she asked if she had insurance (which she did). We saw a bunch of people sitting at the waiting area so we thought this would take a long time, but about 10 minutes later the nurse called her name and said that the doctor was ready to see her.

I don't know if this is a separate incident, but it seems like it all depends on your insurance.

Emergency room patients are seen via triage sorting via the nature of their complaint. Someone bleeding is going to be seen ASAP regardless of insurance or lack thereof. Any NYS or elsewhere hospital that made someone in critical or any other condition wait based upon payment status would find themselves exposed not only to legal liability but heat from the state as well.

[BugsyPal]

Urgent care facilities have been around for years and are expanding for several reasons.

First and foremost they are designed to deal with the vast numbers of non-critical patients who now use ERs for things they shouldn't, clogging up things.

Emergency rooms are expensive for hospitals to operate. The cost goes up when they are certified trauma centers which increases with the level.

The other reason is that frequently a community does not require a full service hospital (expensive) but ambulatory care including urgent will do.

The North Shore-LIJ Lenox Hill hospital *south* campus on the former Saint Vincent's Hospital site is an example. That place functions as an ER and trauma center. Patients are triaged based upon condition. Those that can be treated and discharged are done so. Others are transferred to Lenox-Hill on the UES or sent to Bellevue, Beth Israel, or one of the other East Side hospitals depending upon condition. That poor security guard who was shot on Varick Street several days ago was taken to Lenox-Hill South. Sadly he didn't live but had they been able to stabilize the man he would have been moved to Bellevue or some other hospital.

Places like CityMD serve a vast need of persons who actually *have* insurance and or Medicare/Medicaid and in some cases a PCP, but not access to one when needed.

Try being seen most PCP doctors on a weekend (especially Sunday), holiday, after say 6PM (especially overnight) and so forth. Chances are great the doctor or his service/answer phone will tell you to go to the ER.