In Australia - and Vienna – if you want to see your primary
care doctor you go to their surgery and sit down and wait – usually not long.
If you need to speak to them you ring and they speak to you.
This is a concept I have not encountered in Indianapolis. To
see my primary care doctor I have to ring and make an appointment – and it will
almost never be for the same day or the day after. One time I was offered an
appointment 10 days out.
I cannot speak to my primary care doctor. If I ring his
number I - after going through the usual hoops - I am told ‘the doctor is with a patient at
the moment can I take a message?’
This is said by a person who I know is not in the same
building as the doctor.
If I leave a message I am required to give my full name,
birth date, address, phone number, and the nature of my request. My file will
then be perused online by the telephone person who will ask me questions about
my health, medications and current problems.
She will then – I assume – delete all the information -
because no one has ever called me back.
You can go to a one minute clinic in a pharmacy. I am nor
sure what the one minute refers to – it is certainly not the waiting time.
However – the scope of their ministrations is limited. As I discovered last
time - they do not do headaches. I was advised to see my primary carer or go to
a medical center.
If you go to a medical center you can expect to send a lot
of time filling out forms and waiting. Do not bother if you have a brain
abscess. There will always one person in the waiting room who is dying and
wants you all to know about it. If you have a brain abscess there will also be
a child who will bang blocks on the kiddy play table every five seconds for an
hour.
If you are really sick in America you have only two options
– die or dial 911.
If you dial 911 the nice people will take you to the nearest
emergency room ($600 per mile). There – if you are really lucky – a nice doctor
will save your life.
This happened to me and I am well satisfied with the way
things work here.
In extremis, it's the emergency services we depend on - no matter what the cost, I guess! I'm so pleased you are feeling better.
ReplyDeleteKeep out of the basement - there are dodgy things in basements, and spiders. If some of the books I have read are to be believed, there are also lighter patches on the walls/floors where something has been buried, malfunctioning heating units, ghosts/villains, uneven surfaces, and rats. And spiders. Houses in NZ do not have basements, generally speaking.
That's a very nice duck! :)
Basements are creepy, ditto Alexis info.
ReplyDeleteWow! I won't dis our medicos here again! Got to see my doctor today (he is usually very difficult to see on short notice due to his popularity) thanks to a cancellation. They took my name yesterday and only had to wait 20 mins before I got in.
ReplyDeleteThat's lovely duck! And love the sentiment in your son's Tshirt!
Alexia: I think we have everything but ghosts - although there are lots of places where bodies could be. No basements - where do you keep your tornado food?. It is kneed a fine duck. I miss them all.
ReplyDeletefmcgmccllc: I must admit my basement is a bit crappy - but very useful for cat litter.
Sandy: Well the doctors are great if you can get to see them - and they do good brain surgery. Thanks.