Four in 10 of the patients flooding California's dwindling and overtaxed emergency rooms could be treated elsewhere, but can't wait for an appointment with their own doctor, according to a study released Tuesday.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Other people's money: "emergency" medicine
If given a choice, it is not surprising that patients would choose the option that involves lower waiting time for an appointment.
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Is the problem a lack of doctors who will provide care for the Medi-Cal patients? I notice on May 20 the state reduced payments to providers by 10% effective June 1[medi-cal.ca.gov]. Perhaps providers do not feel they are benefitting from participating in the program, so they drop out. It appears that acute care facilities are not subject to this reduction.
ReplyDeleteNo--ER's are unprofitabe, and no one is building hospitals that have them. see earlier posts on specialty hospitals.
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