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Old 08-02-2016, 05:50 PM
 
31,652 posts, read 26,516,377 times
Reputation: 24472

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Henna View Post
The urgent care I went to, I had to have a huge argument with the doctor to get an antibiotics prescription -- even with the description of -- sick for 10 days, fever comes and goes, other symptoms, etc. she absolutely refused to write it for me. She had the gall to write me an Rx for prednisone, which would not have helped my condition and has *very* strong and unpleasant side effects, and then when I refused to leave without the antibiotics (three times I said this), she finally gave in but ONLY if I "agreed to accept the RISK" of antibiotics. Meanwhile I'm thinking... you're giving me prednisone without one word about side effects and now you're saying this?

I understand doctors are not supposed to prescribe antibiotics for the common cold, and maybe that's what she determined I had, but the whole thing with the prednisone was totally uncalled for. Also if she had bothered to ask me, I am not one of those patients on antibiotics all the time -- maybe take it once every three to four years. So I can't be one of the ones contributing to the "overuse" issue.

Also she had the gall to tell me I could try the stuff she wanted to give me and come back in three days if I'm not better. I said "I'm not paying another $90 to come back in three days" and she told me I wouldn't have to pay it...insurance, etc. I said OF COURSE I WILL HAVE TO PAY. My insurance charges me around $90 for any urgent care visit.

She was an idiot. And I won't go back there again. However, I will go back to another place with decent reviews if I ever have a similar urgent issue. I think it's a great service, especially when getting a same-day appt with my regular doctor is difficult.

Physicians all over the United States are under heat for writing excess of two types of prescriptions; pain killers and antibiotics. If a trained doctor determined it was likely you did not have a bacterial infection that would respond/require antibiotics giving them to you that should be that. Scripts are audited as well as medical records. Doctors can and have been called to justify why they wrote this or that prescription when the patient's chart indicates the medication is of questionable value.


Even if you as you say aren't someone who "over uses" antibiotics the mentality you *should* have one regardless is one that feeds the massive overuse of such drugs in this country.
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Old 08-02-2016, 06:01 PM
 
31,652 posts, read 26,516,377 times
Reputation: 24472
Quote:
Originally Posted by bg7 View Post
There are lots of urgent care centers in expensive suburbs like Westchester.
Your conspiracy theory is misplaced.


To the OP - the public have been abusing and misusing Emergency Rooms for years with non-emergency nonsense- the urgent care centers take off the heat and let people with actual emergencies get seen sooner at the ER.

Stand alone emergency rooms and or urgent care centers are growing and will continue to do so. In many instances they are replacing full service hospitals (Saint Vincent's, Long Island College and now Beth Israel).


The advantages of stand alone ERs and urgent care centers are numerous for both patient and healthcare systems, but the latter has a very good reason for them; it means they can keep patients from using an ER as a backdoor to hospital admission.


Due to federal laws once someone reaches a hospital's ER they essentially become that place's problem. People get off planes from foreign countries and head straight to the nearest hospital ER knowing fully well why and that they must be treated. Everything from pacemakers to other expensive treatment. However if the ER is a stand alone center patients requiring admission can be sent to any hospital.


If you go to Lenox Hill urgent care in the West Village (site of the former Saint Vincent's) and require admission you can be sent to either Lenox Hill Hospital on the UES, Beth Israel (while it is still open), NYU, or Bellevue.


On any given evening/night there are one or more ambulances making their way up Park, Third or Madison avenues. They are transporting patients from various downtown hospitals or Lenox Hill ucc to the UES hospitals (Lenox Hill and Mount Sinai)
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Old 08-02-2016, 06:23 PM
 
15,488 posts, read 15,465,847 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by charmed hour View Post
Part of the issue is many people don't have a primary care doctor to call when they're sick. Or when they do, the doctors schedule doesn't allow for squeezing a patient in. They definitely fill the void in such scenarios. Too many people still head to the ER for non-emergent issues. Urgent cares can handle the majority of cases people head to the ER for.
But they should have a GP!

Imagine if we said: people aren't eating vegetables the way they should, so we're going to open a produce store on every single block!
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Old 08-02-2016, 06:36 PM
 
31,652 posts, read 26,516,377 times
Reputation: 24472
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cida View Post
But they should have a GP!

Imagine if we said: people aren't eating vegetables the way they should, so we're going to open a produce store on every single block!


Finding a GP these days in NYC is often a crap shoot. Much depends on what type of insurance you have (if any), or other factors.


My old GP didn't take insurance period. You paid cash and his office gave the information you needed to fill out insurance forms for reimbursement. Many GPs in NYC work this way.


Finally even if you have a private physician it does not follow you will be able to see him or her when you want even if it is an emergency. Try finding a doctor after business hours, on weekends or holidays, during long parts of the summer vacation season. Chances are you'll get the answer phone telling you to either leave a message or call back during "normal business hours". It goes on saying "if this is an emergency please go to your nearest ER...".


You'd be surprised at how many persons who show up at emergency rooms *have* GPs or other doctors.
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Old 08-02-2016, 09:02 PM
 
Location: Brooklyn New York
18,368 posts, read 31,462,319 times
Reputation: 27789
I am a big fan of urgent care.
I have been to them may times. my left ear clogs at least twices a year, no more making ear doctor appointment and having to wait, just go in, see doctor come out all clog gone.


I cut my finger badly, went to urgent care and they took care of it.
I had a terrible cough that lasted for weeks, again, urgent care.....script, and call it a day.'

Urgent care is the best thing to happen to us here in brooklyn.


It makes perfect sense when it is something not life threatning or where surgery would be needed.'
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Old 08-02-2016, 09:12 PM
 
3,699 posts, read 3,835,528 times
Reputation: 2614
quote:
Urgent care is the best thing to happen to us here in brooklyn.

lol, especially Sheepshead Bay and Brighton Beach
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Old 08-03-2016, 07:37 AM
 
Location: Manhattan
25,343 posts, read 36,870,490 times
Reputation: 12735
Quote:
Originally Posted by Henna View Post
The urgent care I went to, I had to have a huge argument with the doctor to get an antibiotics prescription -- even with the description of -- sick for 10 days, fever comes and goes, other symptoms, etc. she absolutely refused to write it for me. She had the gall to write me an Rx for prednisone, which would not have helped my condition and has *very* strong and unpleasant side effects, and then when I refused to leave without the antibiotics (three times I said this), she finally gave in but ONLY if I "agreed to accept the RISK" of antibiotics. Meanwhile I'm thinking... you're giving me prednisone without one word about side effects and now you're saying this?

I understand doctors are not supposed to prescribe antibiotics for the common cold, and maybe that's what she determined I had, but the whole thing with the prednisone was totally uncalled for. Also if she had bothered to ask me, I am not one of those patients on antibiotics all the time -- maybe take it once every three to four years. So I can't be one of the ones contributing to the "overuse" issue.

Also she had the gall to tell me I could try the stuff she wanted to give me and come back in three days if I'm not better. I said "I'm not paying another $90 to come back in three days" and she told me I wouldn't have to pay it...insurance, etc. I said OF COURSE I WILL HAVE TO PAY. My insurance charges me around $90 for any urgent care visit.

She was an idiot. And I won't go back there again. However, I will go back to another place with decent reviews if I ever have a similar urgent issue. I think it's a great service, especially when getting a same-day appt with my regular doctor is difficult.

Henna,


In truth, the identical thing could happen in a Park Avenue doctor's office.
To avoid the same battle to get antibiotics when I have bacterial bronchitis, I ordered Penicillin-V from India and Z-packs (azithromycin) from Russia.
These morons with MD's prescribe by averages. They take "usually this is caused by a virus" and conflate it with "This is caused by a virus." One can get a non-diagnosis like that from the internet and Web-Med.
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Old 08-03-2016, 07:41 AM
 
Location: Manhattan
25,343 posts, read 36,870,490 times
Reputation: 12735
[quote=NYChistorygal;44989614]

A local hospital just opened one in walking distance from my house. It may be best to research your local centers in advance to see if any have problems and to make sure they accept your insurance.[/quote]


Good advice.
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Old 08-03-2016, 07:55 AM
 
Location: Bergen County, NJ
9,847 posts, read 25,169,173 times
Reputation: 3627
Quote:
Originally Posted by BugsyPal View Post
Finding a GP these days in NYC is often a crap shoot. Much depends on what type of insurance you have (if any), or other factors.


My old GP didn't take insurance period. You paid cash and his office gave the information you needed to fill out insurance forms for reimbursement. Many GPs in NYC work this way.


Finally even if you have a private physician it does not follow you will be able to see him or her when you want even if it is an emergency. Try finding a doctor after business hours, on weekends or holidays, during long parts of the summer vacation season. Chances are you'll get the answer phone telling you to either leave a message or call back during "normal business hours". It goes on saying "if this is an emergency please go to your nearest ER...".


You'd be surprised at how many persons who show up at emergency rooms *have* GPs or other doctors.
Its become quite expensive for doctors to have private practices. This is why you rarely see a doc office with only one doctor now (I honestly can't think of any off top of my head). Now most of the time it's a whole bunch sharing a space and they rotate what days they are there.
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Old 08-03-2016, 08:46 AM
 
Location: New York
1,186 posts, read 957,322 times
Reputation: 2970
As someone who has gone long periods without insurance in the past (largely for financial reasons), Urgent Care has been a great way to avoid the high costs of ER or, in some cases, even an out-of-pocket GP visit. That said, in my own experience, Urgent Care doctors are not great diagnosticians, so its better to have a good idea of what your issue is prior to walking in the door.

In most cases I've paid a visit to the urgent care it was for something that required medication (i.e. really bad sinus infection, bronchitis, shingles, strep throat, etc) that would have gotten much worse without some kind of intervention.

That said, you should also be careful. A new Urgent Care opened by my home, which I paid a visit to recently after coming down with strep. The clinic had a Nurse Practitioner on staff who prescribed a massive dose of antibiotics (penicillin) for 10 days. The strep cleared up, but I had a terrible time with the side-effects and eventually a bad allergic reaction. So, if you're not comfortable with your urgent care clinic outcome, it may pay to visit the ER or see your GP, depending on severity of the issue.
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