Ko0K on 17/5/2008 at 16:52
Wow. You got treated that way despite being a cash patient? Sorry to say it, but I'd say you got ripped off. Also, are you sure it's a podiatry issue and not a dermatology one? I thought growths were usually diagnosed and treated by dermatologists.
Fafhrd on 18/5/2008 at 01:29
I'd be willing to bet he got treated that way BECAUSE he was a cash patient.
the_grip on 18/5/2008 at 03:14
Ya know if you don't like what the doctor said, you can always address your concerns to him/her.
That said, healthcare in the US seems to be getting worse and worse, or maybe it is just my experience.
Take, for example, the lack of good pediatricians. Pediatricians, from what i understand, are one of the lowest paid medical areas around. However, the quack we see (who is better than all the other quacks in the area) went to visit a friend and her baby in the hospital several times after the baby was born - not requested, btw - and then later charged them $500 a trip. This kind of shit is not uncommon.
The bottom line is you have to find a doc you trust and then you may have to grab them by the short and curlies every now and then so that they listen to you. Doctors tend to think they are more intelligent than their patients, and that is generally when they begin to make mistakes.
BrokenArts on 18/5/2008 at 03:20
Also........get a 2nd opinion, if its that bad. Get a 2nd opinion. Doctors are too much like politicians.
demagogue on 18/5/2008 at 03:35
I think I've made my peace with it. It was partly a misunderstanding on my part, thinking he was talking about what I was thinking, and me not explaining my pessimism more diligently. But I don't think explaining more would have changed much, anyway ... No matter what, I should see a specialist for this sort of thing, and the ultimate answer would have been the same. So no need to worry about the middle guy.
I should have expected a general physician couldn't really do much, and in the end I'll have to see a proper foot specialist (or dermatologist? Is it a growth? I still don't know exactly. I think the podiatrist might still be good even it it is, though, since it's still under the nail). On reflection, the only thing that really made it eyebrow-raising was what I got for the cost. If it had just been $25 I wouldn't have cared that much about it and would be happy just for the antibiotic Rx, which did clear up the part that was actually infected. Maybe that's all I was expecting.
The sign on the door says $25 for an appointment, but of course that's just if you have the right insurance, otherwise it's $50 co-pay, and if you don't have any insurance it's even more than that ... And I guess I'm not used to not having insurance, and taking it (and signs on doors) for granted. Well, live and learn.
Harvester on 18/5/2008 at 20:33
Last year in May I had appendicitis and was operated on at a small regional hospital. I got the old-fashioned large single cut on the side to remove my appendix, instead of the more modern camera-assisted operation with two small incisions that heal much faster. I stayed two days at the hospital after the operation.
When I was at home, after a week or so I got a fever and the area around the incision became red and hot. So I let the surgeon take a look at it. He looked at it for 3 seconds, says "don't worry about it, just put some ice on it" and left. The whole visit took less than 30 seconds.
Five days later, I was back at the hospital for another operation to drain a bucket full of pus from the wound. Had to stay there for 6 days. Nice going, mr. surgeon!
SubJeff on 19/5/2008 at 00:53
The question here is - do I even bother?
Re-reads thread
Unlikely. People like to bitch, no one wants to know the truth. meh
Jennie&Tim on 19/5/2008 at 15:09
No. I'd change docs if I was you. Different people do better with different styles of doctoring, there are people who like that type of bossy doctor; but you clearly aren't one.
For people who live in other countries, our co-pay is twenty dollars for a basic doctor, forty for a specialist, and a hundred for the ER. Plus twenty percent for any surgeries that are needed, up to 700 dollars per year, after that the whole thing is covered.
I agree though, that they pay more attention when you have insurance. We've been without and it's harder to get their attention when you don't have insurance, they're less sure they'll get paid.
Swiss Mercenary on 19/5/2008 at 17:26
For the few doctor's visits I've had, I haven't paid a penny... And I wasn't pushed out the door in twenty seconds, even if they couldn't help me. (Two visits to a specialist and five blood samples later, I was prescribed aspirin for some really bad chronic swelling of my fingers and toes. I guess it worked. :erg: Or maybe it got better on it's own.)
Yes, I was referred to a specialist, who was spending most of his time being very puzzled (And prescribing aspirin). Either way, after reading the stories here, I'm glad I was only treated with some ineptitude, as opposed to a walking wallet. (Something that's becoming a problem in Canada, as well, as of late. You know, doctors refusing to see cancer patients, because they get paid by the visit, and their visits are too long, and all that.)
SubJeff on 19/5/2008 at 18:35
And people complain about the NHS... :p
