Lump on neck, urgent care or emergency room?
PLEASE don't tell me to just go to the doctor, that's what I'm trying to do. I have a lump on my neck that grew from nearly nothing to large enough to cause concern nearly overnight and need to figure out my best choice for a first contact. My insurance actually costs less when using urgent care or the emergency department than it does primary care physicians so I'd like to see one of the two. I understand that urgent cares are limited in their equipment but can refer for x-rays and other tests, but Im wondering if I should head to the hospital so that any testing can be done then and there. While this isn't an emergency such as a broken leg or heart attack, this grew from barely visible to something I can see with my hair down nearly overnight and is hurting/tingling. Which will be my best option? I have two small children who have to go everywhere with me and I'd rather reduce their time in waiting rooms and exam rooms as much as possible.
Kidney Stone: Emergency Room or Urgent Care?
The ER. X rays {IVP...intravenous pylogram} identify kidney stones. It is important to know if your kidney is obstructed....cannot pass urine form the kidney to the bladder due to the stone obstructing the ureter. Remember your other kidney will take over and you still can pee. You will have constant pain in your flank ,kidney area may radiate to the testicle in males labia in females. Kidney damage can occur if the stone remains in the ureter tube due to hydronephrosis or filling of the kidney with urine it makes but cannot empty. You also can get a kidney infection due to urine collecting and not passing on through the urinary tract. Most stones do pass but sometimes they are too big and they have to blast them called lithotripsy or surgically remove them or pass a stone basket up from the bladder to snare the stone and pull it out to allow the kidney to continue to function properly. If you get fever or vomiting you need to be seen again. Could be developing an infection for which you need antibiotics. A blood test called creatinine shows kidney function. If it is elevated you are probably obstructed. Ask your doctor what are my options of care? What symptoms should I look for and when do I need futher medical intervention? Uncontrolled pain always needs futher intervention . Developing chills and high fever especially if it is hard shaking chills{septic} it is an emergency as the infection is spreading all over your body. Go back to the emergency or call your doctor and have him see you or instruct the ER about your need of care pronto. (NOW)
Urgent care clinics do not and should not compete with emergency rooms for patients. Decades ago, when Kaiser started diverting patients to Urgent Care, their goal was to reduce costs and patient load so they could dedicate the ER care to this with a more emergent need and need for higher level of care. When Kaiser started this diversion to Urgent Care program, they also increased the co-pay at the ER. They found that the higher co-pay reduced the patient load on the ER and many of those patients did not show up at the Urgent Care Clinic or other clinics.A well run Emergency Room can alleviate wait times with a diversion program to Urgent Care clinics. A good triage program can be effective. Many patients who are diverted to Urgent Care with the longer wait times they often have will leave.When the patient in ER is asked “How long have you had this symptom?” too many patients would say, “Oh, I’ve had this symptom for a week but could not take time off work.” They try to use the ER as a quick service medical clinic to impatient people.There is even a Quora question “Why doesn’t anybody in the ‘emergency room’ seem to understand than an emergency means urgent?” The triage nurse and doctors decide what is an emergency. Most ER visits are not.An ER visit fee usually starts at $800 to $1000 and quickly goes up. An Urgent Care visit starts at $180 to $300.Even broken bones can be treated in Urgent Care clinics or urgent orthopedic care clinics.
Medical emergency, but no insurance?
I am in a similar situation, having various symptoms but no insurance. First of all, if its a private hospital, they CAN turn you away in the emergency room, which has happened to me before and a friend of mine as well. At a city hosptial, I've already tried going to the emergency room and when they found out I had no insurance, they charged me double the amount because they didn't deem my symptoms to be emergency worthy, despite doing no tests on me to confirm this. (my symptoms involve sharp neck pain and facial nerve pain and tingling that travels up the back of my head and down my forehead and eyes, along with tingling down my arm, just to give you an idea of what they deemed to be "no big deal") They gave me a prescription for a muscle relaxer and charged me 400 dollars. A few months later I went back again because the symptoms were getting worse. I thought this would have been proof that I need a test to find out what's going on, which they still denied me. Instead they sent me to their "Urgent Care Clinic" which is for low income individuals and those without insurance, where they too told me my symptoms were no big deal despite the progression and no testing done. They gave me a prescription for ibuprofen and charged me 500 dollars. (I was able to dispute the price down to 200) I live in a metropolitan area so I'm not sure if that is part of the equation, but I wanted to share my experience. You may have to make a fuss to get actual treatment, though that didn't work for me. Also try to go on a weekday morning if possible and hope you can seen by someone compassionate. Or you're best bet may be to try and get into a clinic that will see people without insurance and charge you based on your income. Ask a hospital to refer you to one in your area. Though I warn you, these places aren't much better, they are often over crowded and have almost no funding so its impossible for them to work efficiently or offer anything more than a pain reliever. Again, if you don't live in a metro area, it may be easier for you.
Urgent care help!!?
First of all... Who cares how much you weigh!!! Either way they still probably will weigh you so get over it!!! I am only 13 years old and weighs 160 pounds... If you are so insecure go jogging and exercise... My school requires us to run a mile non stop... We gotta do plenty push ups, sit ups, pull ups, and etc... If I can do it so can you... But if anything ask the doctors, perhaps you wont have to be weighed... Plus no one else would know how much you weigh unless you tell them... Duh...
This isn’t really a question of convenience. Emergency Rooms are for critical or life-threatening care. Is your child running a fever or dealing with a cough he has had for a week? This is bothersome but not an emergency. Go to Urgent Care. Did he fall off his bike? Again, even if his arm is broken, it can likely be x-rayed and set at Urgent Care. However, if he is bleeding badly or is having trouble breathing, has fallen a great distance and at some point lost consciousness, get him to the ER right away.Do keep in mind that an emergency room does not operate on a “first come first serve” basis. Patients are triaged and treated in the order of the severity of their illness or injury. Even if you get back to the back and get a bed, you may find yourself waiting a long time if your chief complaint is pain, (sound serious to you but isn’t as bad as the lady with breathing difficulty or the old man having a heart attack).As parents, we think about our kids as being the most important people in the world and to us they are. In a hospital ER, even the staff who have kids of their own can’t afford to think that way.
Serious medical question to ask, emergency, doctors/students on here or better yet ob/gyn if possible?HELP!!?
I am sorry about the fact that you were date raped. I understand that you are probably still shaken up and that your ER visit must have been hectic for you. As you probably know, the ER can be very busy and hectic, and ER docs are forced to make quick decisions on the spot as to if they want to treat, consult a specialist, or admit you to the hospital. In your description of your problem, the ER doc was correct in considering a possible STD infection, particularly gonorrhea/chlamydia and treating you empirically with antibiotics. Abortions (I assume you are having a dilation & curettage done or D&C) rarely cause infertility (e.g. Asherman Syndrome), but gonorrheal infections which lead to pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) can, especially in your age group. As for your boyfriend, he had an ultrasound and saw a urologist because the ER docs had concerns about a testicular torsion, which is a surgical emergency. It sounds like your boyfriend had epididymitis and/or orchitis which is often a result of surprise--gonorrhea/chlamydia. If it had been testicular torsion though, the surgeons only have 6 hours to reposition the testicle before the testicle dies from loss of blood supply. If they are too late, it has to be removed and your boyfriend would be one testicle less of a man. So though you are concerned, given your history and your boyfriend's problem, the ER doc was correct in his decisions. Nevertheless, the medical staff probably could have been more compassionate. Edit: I am a real doctor.
Urgent Care question. Please help!?
It would be extremely expensive to go to an urgent care like prolly a couple hundred dollars. Most towns have a birthright, planned parenthood, or pregnancy resource center. These are facilities that help people, genereally with low income, get the services they need, (preg tests, condoms, birth control, pap smears, etc.). If you are low income and no insurance than it is usually free and they do accept donations. Look for one of these in your area. If you can't find one try to call the (department of family services, health department or child protective services in your area and they might be able to tell you. Oh the health dept here does tests for like 8 or 10 dollars. I would say you are pregnant if you have had 2 positives. It is way more unlikely to get a false positive than it is to get a false negative. you could call a labor and delivery doc and make an apt with them you need to have prenatal care right away if you are and they will do a test on your first appointment anyway. Good Luck and Congrats if you are!