There’s a trend in healthcare which you may not be aware of. At least not yet. If you’re young and healthy, you won’t even know about it, until it’s too late. Let’s say you’re seeing a specialist because you’ve developed one of thousands of medical conditions that require the ongoing care of a doctor. Not just a yearly checkup, but something more serious. Supposing you have a flareup of this condition on a Friday afternoon. And so, you call the physician who’s been treating you. Not too long ago, if your doctor was not available, he had a partner who was “on call.” That doesn’t happen anymore. Now, many doctors ghost you on weekends.
In our case, my husband has frequent nosebleeds while being prescribed a well advertised, over priced blood thinner. Thanks to information gleaned from the internet, I have learned how to deal with the situation most of the time. No doctor gave me this advice. I had to find it out on my own, after one too many trips to the emergency room for a procedure I could have handled on my own, if only someone had been on call who could have told me what to do.
He had seen an ENT a few days before, who insisted the problem wasn’t caused by blood thinners. The doctor said he simply needed a cauterization to stop the nosebleeds. Afterwards, she said that he should never have another one. . But, if he did, he should consider it a medical emergency and call her office immediately. She assured him that he would be given top priority to be treated right away. That sounded very comforting. We could rest assured that he was in good hands.
Fast forward to less than 10 days later, on a Friday afternoon at 1:30. Major nosebleed. Called the doctor’s office and got no answer at all. Called the hospital where she’s on staff, and was informed that the office closed early for the weekend. Frantically tried to find a way to contact her. Finally got an answering service from her old office which she had left three years ago. Said they couldn’t help.
Now, of course, we knew what we were supposed to do, based on previous experiences with other physicians. If you have a problem on weekends, you’re basically up shit creek. You’re supposed to call 911, get taken to the hospital emergency room, wait hours until SOMEONE shows up to decide what to do. If they admit you to the hospital, you will not see your original doctor. You will be treated by “hospitalists” who have been assigned to treat you over weekends and holidays. These strange doctors are starting from scratch. They have access to your medical records, but other than that, they know nothing about you as a living, breathing, human being. .
Not all physicians operate this way. But many of them do. They’re covered, legally, by the old refrain on their answering machine: (if they have one). “If this is an emergency, call 911.” (Average cost of ER visit is $1,610 in most states)) Beware: your doctor may ghost you on weekends.