HUFFINGTON
08.19.12
PROGNOSIS UNCLEAR
ter served in a doctor’s office. “It’s
not really primary care that’s delivered in emergency departments.
It’s a pretty common misconception. ‘Primary care’ suggests that
there’s an ongoing relationship
between a patient and provider,”
James Scheulen, the chief administrative officer of the hospital’s
Department of Emergency Medicine, told Huffington.
Emergency care costs patients
more because bills are higher,
while their health may be worse
because they put off treatment. It’s
also more expensive for hospitals,
not least because uninsured people leave behind unpaid bills — to
the tune of $39.3 billion in 2010,
according to the Chicago-based
American Hospital Association.
Johns Hopkins saw $248 million
in unpaid bills in 2009.
“It’s great if you have insurance, but if there’s nobody there
to care for you, it doesn’t really
matter,” nurse educator Paula
Neira said. “They can’t get into
their primary care physicians in
a reasonable time frame to deal
with an urgent flare-up of something. I’m in pain, I call my doc,
the doc says, ‘Well, I can see you
in two weeks.’ That doesn’t do me
much good,” she said.
Trouble is, there simply may
not be enough doctors to handle
all these newly insured patients
trying to make appointments for
check-ups, common illnesses and
treatments for chronic conditions.
The Association of American
Medical Colleges predicts a shortage of 62,900 doctors in 2015,
and that will worsen over time.
“They’re absolutely right to be concerned about having an adequate
primary care infrastructure,” Glen
Stream, a physician in Spokane,
Wash., told Huffington. “Our primary care infrastructure is stressed
and distressed,” said Stream, who
is the president of the Leawood,
Kansas-based American Academy
“There’s got
to be a huge and
effective public
education, outreach
and advertising
campaign.”