demagogue on 17/5/2008 at 05:08
Edit: I described my doctor's visit in more detail in my original post, but now I'm thinking it's not very interesting all the actual details as the general point.
The punchline is that I went to see the doctor about my toe ... to me it looks like something pretty serious, like a cyst or something under the nail. But after an appointment over $100, the doctor rushed in, looked at it for a few seconds, and just prescribed some antibiotics, like it were a little infection of an ingrown nail (his diagnosis), and couldn't run out fast enough. And here I was thinking this thing had to be cut out of me or something. And now I'm second guessing whether he even got a good look at the bad part. I pointed it out and said what I thought, but he was in such a rush, and I was never really sure if he was following me or if he knew something I didn't... And now I'm not so sure if saw the worst part or not; do I make another $100 appointment to make a 20 second, possibly irrelevant clarification?
Most everybody knows the feeling when you go to a mechanic, you're sort of at their mercy when they tell you to spend all of this money for something. Now taking these little antibiotic footbaths, I feel a little absurd, like my cyst-looking thing is looking up at me and laughing, it's only getting a little wet, all the money I spent was for nothing, and I still have to do something about it.
I guess I was just uneasy, frustrated and struck by it enough to post about it. Not that my toe is such a big deal, but the principle of the thing. Does anyone else feel this sort of uneasiness going to the doctors? One thing I wonder, too, is if countries with more socialized health systems are better about this sort of thing. Are doctors in less of a rush, and is there less of a nagging feeling that you want to second-guess everything they say ... because you aren't paying so much for it? Or is it similar?
Thief13x on 17/5/2008 at 06:42
hmm, must say I've never had an experience like that, doctors I've been to have always been really thorough, I will admit that that would really piss me off. I would call the office and explain, maybe you can get another appointment with a diff doc. At college, I hate the fact that the school nurses ALWAYS tell you to come back in a week to get antibiotics, and after a week I can hardly function much less breath.
As for socialized medicine, my great aunt claims that she comes to the U.S. from Canada for her medical needs because it's like "dealing with the DMV"
D'Juhn Keep on 17/5/2008 at 08:57
It's probably not a shock but the quality of care does depend on where you live. My girlfriend lives in a pretty crappy part of London and the doctors surgery she's with is pretty shit and usually very crowded. As it only has one doctor and covers a very built up area, she says the quality of care is rubbish. I live 2 miles away but go to one that has at least 3 doctors that are, in my experience, really good.
I've not had anything serious done in my adult life but it is pretty sweet not having to pay $100 to go and see a doctor if you need some antibiotics.
Neb on 17/5/2008 at 10:20
$100?! That sounds excessively expensive to me. I never knew it was that much.
Is that the general cost everywhere in the U.S for a visit to a doctor?
henke on 17/5/2008 at 11:03
I'm starting to see why so many Americans go online and ask random strangers what they think is the reason for the big lump they have on their neck instead of going to the doctor.
Dia on 17/5/2008 at 12:28
How long ago was your Dr's visit? Have you been taking the antibiotics and are they helping? If it were me, I guess I'd keep taking the antibiotics and just wait a bit and see if they have any effect. If not, then call the Dr's office back, tell them your condition hasn't changed and demand to see another Dr. I've never had an ingrown nail that became infected, but I do know that friends/family who've had that condition ended up having a Dr. do (very) minor surgery to cut out that part of the nail that'd grown inward, so I question the Dr's haste in just giving you a prescription and not telling you that something will need to be done about the nail itself (to prevent another infection).
I had a similar experience at an opthamologist's office years ago, wherein I really was treated like just another number. Hell, the Dr. took all of 1 minute to examine my eyes, then left. The only thing the Dr. said to me was hello; he actually 'shushed' me when I started asking a question, if you can believe that! Then he was gone (didn't even say goodby, the bastard). It was the nurse who'd ushered me into the exam room who'd also asked all the questions, came in after the Dr. left to give me a prescription, then gave me his business card & told me that I could probably find answers to all my questions in his FAQ section on his site. And yes, I did go to his website, didn't find the answers I wanted, but did have the satisfaction of leaving a seriously hissy (and lengthy) comment in his 'Comments Welcome' section. :p In fact, a few months later I went back to that Dr's site and noticed that he'd had the 'Comments Welcome' section removed. Guess I wasn't the only dissatisfied patient.
So give the antibiotics a little time to work, demagogue. If they don't help, then either call that Dr's office back (& make sure you voice your complaint that your condition hasn't improved!) or make an appointment with a different Dr. I don't know what it's like in other countries, but here in the states it seems like it's pretty much luck of the draw.
D'Arcy on 17/5/2008 at 13:10
I'm a bit of a hypochondriac, and my doctor knows about this. So he has a tendency to never take me too seriously. I actually like this behaviour, although it has some drawbacks. A couple of years ago I went to see him, complaining that I was sure I had an inguinal hernia, judging from the pain I felt when playing squash and the swelling in my groin. Besides, I used to play football at an official level, and this kind of injury is relatively common in footballers. As usual, he thought I was overreacting and sent me home with a prescription for some anti-inflammatory drugs. Two weeks later I was back, and he had to surrender to my superior medical knowledge, agreeing to my initial hernia diagnosis ;)
$100 is terribly expensive. I have a medical insurance, and it allows me to visit a private doctor and pay €10 for a consult. But I could always go to a public hospital and pay nothing or next to it (although I'd have to wait a lot longer to be seen by a doctor). When I had to undergo surgery for that hernia, I did it all in a public hospital (my grandfather was a doctor there, and my aunt is also one, so I knew and trusted the doctors at that hospital), and my bill for the whole surgery and the couple of days I had to stay there was around €11.
zombe on 17/5/2008 at 14:07
OT (sorry, nothing useful to say for you):
Quote Posted by demagogue
/.../ appointment over $100, /.../
What!? Thats robbery! I just recently had an OP. OP and consultation before that and sequential visits (2) cost me a total of (converted to $) 2.5$ ! How can an appointment go over 100$?
Ko0K on 17/5/2008 at 16:14
At this point I am just echoing what everyone else is saying, but $100 for co-payment is unheard of on my part. Crappy treatment of health care client isn't a shocker at all, but the co-payment is usually between ten and 25 dollars for those who have basic health care. Is your health care HMO or PPO?
demagogue on 17/5/2008 at 16:44
Co-payment was $50 up front; no insurance means I'll also be billed for their part later, another ~$50 (anyway that's what I understood); then I have to pay for the medication, another ~$20 (which they first gave me in pill form, not liquid, by the way, not sure if the dr. meant that or just wrote an unclear Rx, but I had to clear that up.)
I should have also said it was just a general physician; a podiatrist would have been much more, although that's who I really needed to see. I'll get insurance when my new job starts in about another month, then I'll definitely see a podiatrist, but I wanted to do something before then because it was looking ugly.
And while I am hoping the antibiotics help -- it did clear the infection part right up -- I still get the impression the growth-thing isn't reacting to it so far; I mean, is it going to just retreat or fall off? He did say if the antibiotics don't help any, I should just see a podiatrist, but we can keep it from getting infected. At one point I almost felt like I was paying for him to tell me to keep it clean and see a foot specialist. I'll give it more time and maybe it will be better, though.
I guess the lesson here is I should have just bit the bullet and waited for the insurance...
