Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Health Navigator
The New York Daily News article was a first person story of experience with the health care system.
“My plunge into the world of ambulances, emergency rooms and minor surgery came without warning, like a trapdoor opening beneath my feet. One second, I was skiing along happily in upstate New York’s Adirondack Mountains with my son and a group of friends. The next, I was writhing on the slope in pain — having wrenched my right leg in an awkward, slow-speed fall. In the blink of an eye, I went from a healthy and independent 52-year-old to a trauma victim in need of a lot of expert help from a lot of people.”
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Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Health Navigator
Not so! You can be in a hospital bed for several days without actually being admitted with personal financial consequences.
The New York Times article “ noted: “ But it turns out that even though you are receiving treatment in a hospital bed, you may simply be under observation, and technically are still an outpatient. That can cost you money if you are covered under Medicare, the federal health plan for older Americans.”
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Updated on Jun 30, 2022 | Your Health
Philip Abrams didn’t want to go to the Emergency Department.
He’d never felt this way before. What at first seemed like a simple headache just kept getting worse. Though he couldn’t see his regular doctor, the covering doctor suspected sinusitis, and started an antibiotic. When things progressed, he was referred to an ENT specialist, who noted an emerging rash on his nose and forehead, and suspected shingles. He got an anti-viral medication and pain meds, but couldn’t sleep because of the increasing pain.
When his eye started to get involved, his wife persuaded him to go to Mount Sinai’s new geriatric emergency department. “It was the last thing I felt like doing. I felt horrible, I hadn’t eaten anything in the past couple of days, and I didn’t want to move…”
But soon after his arrival, things started looking up. “I wasn’t there more than a few minutes before I was whisked out of that space and ushered to another area where my blood pressure was taken… I was promptly seen, and the physician’s assistant gathered info about me, asked if I had eaten, and promptly brought me a turkey sandwich and drink.”
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