My Healthcare Story

Two weeks ago, I suddenly had shooting pain in both of my arms. Taking Tylenol didn't help, so I headed down to the Emergency Room. The doctor there diagnosed a Repetitive Stress Injury, and sent me home with Advil.

Two days after that, I had some severe swelling and pain in both arms and legs, which led to ER Trip #2. The doctor recommended I keep taking Advil, and see my family doctor during the week.

The next night, I had a new type of pain in both arms and legs, which led to ER Trip #3. After a five hour wait in excruciating pain, I finally saw a doctor, who suspected something viral. He sent me home with some really strong painkillers.

I finally saw my Family Doctor a few days later, and he immediately realized that it is a localized allergic reaction to something, and sent me to a Rheumatologist at Toronto General Hospital (TGH).

When I got to TGH, I was told to wait in line at the ER (this is trip #4), and when I finally saw a doctor, who wasn't a Rheumatologist (even though my Family Doctor specifically requested a Rheumatologist). I was sent home again.

The next day, I saw a Dermatologist, who also suspected an allergic reaction. After hearing my (ridiculous) story, she pulled a few strings and got a Rheumatologist to see me immediately. I finally got some proper medication prescribed, which improved my condition drastically right after the first dose. The doctors still don't know what happened, but at least the medication is working.

This is the first time I've been sick enough to need to go to a hospital, and the experience has utterly shaken my faith in our healthcare system. If you don't think medicare is broken, you're a moron.

I have several points:

1 - It's not that we don't have good doctors, we actually have some great ones. It just took too long for the system to get me to the right person.

2 - My brother and I were discussing that it would've been quite expensive if we'd paid for these ER visits out of pocket (I believe each visit costs over $300). On the other hand, I would have been willing to shell out up to a thousand dollars to see the right doctor right away and get treatment faster.

3 - I understand the Triage system in ERs, but the wait times are still ridiculous. This might have something to do with understaffing, because on Trip #3, the doctor who saw me was the only one working in the ER. To his credit, he stayed an extra hour to wait for my test results and prescribed something that actually relieved my pain.

4 - During ER Trips #2 and #3, I had blood tests done. My family doctor does not have automatic access to those results, he has to call the hospital and have them faxed to him. Even more ridiculous is the fact that I, the patient, will not be given those results! After seeing about 8 doctors within a week, it's painfully obvious how important electronic health records are. Any doctor I see now should be able to access my records, prescriptions, and test results from the past week, but they can't.

Private Clinics

There was an interesting article in the Economist about a month ago. The concept is to make quick visits to the doctor much, much faster than they are now. Rather than wait a week to get an appointment, then another hour at the doctor's office, you swing by one of these 'McClinics' and get a doctor to see you very quickly.

Reasons why I like this service:
-It allows you to quickly see a doctor for minor health problems.
-It is relatively cheap, often charging you half of what a doctors' visit would charge you.
-Many health insurance services are already covering these clinic visits.
-They are becoming widely available, in chain stores (Walmart), pharmacies (CVS), transport hubs (Europe).
-They often use nurse-practitioners instead of doctors. What's the difference? Nurse-practitioners can not only diagnose common minor health problems, but also write prescriptions. That leaves the doctors to deal with the more serious health problems.

It would be nice to see more clinics like this here in Canada, but I need to do more research about why they aren't widely available already.

One of my favourite services in Ontario is Telehealth Ontario. You get to speak to a Registered Nurse (RN) and ask them general health questions, or specific ones to determine if you need to go see a doctor. I've used it on several occasions. I think the Ontario Ministry of Health does a bad job of publicizing the service though, since a lot of people don't even know it exists.