r/healthcare

I just spent the last 2 days in emergency because I went to my family doctor and she told me to go to emergency with my issue. As she was unable to make a proper assessment and needed to rule out some potentially life threatening diagnosis. Turns out the hospital isn’t 100% sure either but that’s another rant.

So I’m In emerg for over 7 hours day one and just over 6 day two. And in that span of time while waiting hours in a room, I was able to hear many of the conversations between Doctor & patient (in several of the curtained areas around me). And came to the conclusion that people are idiots, lazy or just plain ignorant to why you should be going to emergency. People with potentially life threatening illnesses & injuries sure, those who broke something, need stitches sure. But I’ll tell you the majority of issues that I heard could have been easily seen by a family doctor or at a walk in clinic!!!

Why the F are you in EMERGENCY?!?!

A lady and her daughter waited over 5 hrs cause she tore a fingernail trying to grab someone with her 3” Lee Press On nails! What do you want the doctor to do? Glue it back on?! That’s basically what he told her besides putting on a bandaid and keeping it clean. Oh and cut or remove the press on nail on the affected finger so it doesn’t catch on anything else? Are you daft?

Another patient had an sport injury back in June & now feels like it’s reoccurring. Umm what’s wrong with a family doctor, physio & referral to an orthopedic surgeon if necessary? Which is what the doctor basically said. Again, why are you in emergency?!? And there were many more, my eye hurts, I fell while on vacation last week and now my knee is bothering me…it goes on and on…pure stupidity.

Helloooo isn’t that all just common sense?! Could you not have gone to a local walk in or your family doctor? No instead you choose to go to emerg and strain the system further. As well as delay others who really need immediate medical attention and are visibly in pain or discomfort. The world is full of stupid, selfish, ignorant people these days!!

The government needs to release literature or have some kind of advertising campaign that tells people to seek alternative medical treatment if their condition is not life threatening and stop going to emergency for every little thing!!! I also think emergency should have the right to refer out to a clinic.

And it might be helpful to have the literature available in different languages!

Ok rant done! Thanks for reading!

Update: This is a post from Canada

I seen vague answers. the reason Im asking is this:I seen alot of unions/guilds in america with the largest I think have 200 million in dues per YEAR. so it got me thinking:

What is the smallest cost to start a health insurance company and would it be legal to refuse denial to those who are part of a union/guild?

So much for an insurance based healthcare system to replace our NHS … hey Nigel 🤔🤬

I’ve been seeing more and more states push new restrictions on PBMs, and it made me wonder if we’re moving a little too fast. I keep seeing “fix PBMs” this, “fix PBMs” that, as if it’s the answer to high drug costs, but changing one rule after another doesn’t necessarily mean costs will come down. At some point, maybe we should let the reforms already passed actually play out and see what changes. Otherwise, we’re just constantly reshuffling the system without knowing if it’s really helping patients.

Update: I get it. This should be enough. Maine healthcare and insurance has been a nightmare.

I hope anyone else looking for help for themselves or their loved ones will find this. This place does their best to bury negative reviews, high turnover, etc So this will probably be removed or whatever - but I hope it can help someone feel less crazy. You re not crazy. People here take advantage of your vulnerability.

Looking into Portland, Maine?: If anyone is thinking about moving to Maine, do not do it unless you are extremely healthy in every way and/or wealthy and/or have the privilege and ability to travel to Boston for healthcare needs.

Original Post:

We are considering enrolling in the Bishop Health virtual IOP program. We are becoming concerned that they will not provide information about the pricing, billing, or even what is included in the program. 

Before we participated in the initial evaluation for the program, we were led to believe it was in-network and it would be a program from 10 am to 2 pm daily that included daily appointments with a psychiatrist, individual therapy, and group therapy. At first, the cost was for a year long program at one flat fee, which didn’t seem right.

During the phone call screening, we provided personal medical information, our address, phone number, email, etc.

Then, after being told we were a good fit for the program, someone over the phone not associated with Bishop Health asked us for a large payment for the 3-month program. They did not provide any official documentation of any sort, nothing with a cost breakdown, program information, etc. They also asked for the payment via Affirm. (Again with nothing associated with the payment, just a request for the money.)

We contacted the phone number we had been provided for Bishop Health Admission and they are replying with vague information via text. We asked specifically for a direct email from Bishop Health with official documentation. It really feels like they are avoiding answering our questions directly about the program and financial responsibility.

Has anyone participated in the program? What was your experience? Is this some sort of scam preying on vulnerable people? 

We specially want to hear if anyone paid their large fee upfront and then were hit with, “Oh, your insurance didn’t cover the thousands of dollars we thought they would and also, everything is charged individually so you’ll owe us for that too - but don’t worry! We have a payment plan.”

This is something we are very worried about since the person requesting the money said if we find the program is not helpful or the right fit, we still owe the entire amount of the program. The person requesting the money and the “Bishop Health” cell phone number will not email us, only communicating either over the phone or in text messages. 

I understand insurance is different based on plans, coverage, etc. But please let us know if you have felt misled by them or felt they were not honest about the program and/or financial responsibility.

Also, if you have participated, how effective was the program for you? We want to hear about all experiences, good and bad. Thank you so much in advance!

I have medical school friends who assist at a free clinic while on rotations at time. It’s completely free if you don’t need surgery or certain prescription drugs. Some complex procedures can be done for free if only clean exam room needed. Rich donors and some medical school tuition helps pay to keep the clinic afloat. Hospital pays the utility bill as inside a hospital. Donors pay for workers who aren’t medical students or resident doctors. There are more free clinics like this all across the U.S. The patients at the free clinic openly mention receiving free care. Yes, people pay for it to stay open but it’s not most tax payers. There are medical students who pay to assist there. I will not say it’s the best care at times since some people can get better care with insurance. At least some people have the option for free care without requirements besides waiting your turn when waits are long. A few people have mentioned that they don’t want these places to exist as not free at all when they aren’t even paying for it.

Just my claim for the case. I have served food to the homeless for over 15 years if that matters. Feel free to share your own thoughts and opinions.

I am not saying that nursing is not inevitably in high demand since there are things we can't control like the fact that our bodies deteriorate as we get older, however, I think there would be a lot less demand if we lived in a healthier environment and ate better food and lived a healthier lifestyle. American life is very sedentary because it is so car centric and it is also not a country where people eat a good diet. We also have air pollution from deregulation in many areas.

I think it's absurd how much people rely on the healthcare system in this country. If you are between age 15 and 35 you shouldn't have to visit the doctor more than at most once a year. You are in your most biologically stable prime years. The doctor is for really young people and really old people and those who by reason of misfortune inherited a chronic condition, however, the vast majority of people should not be needed to visit the doctor regularly and the fact that they do means something is very wrong with their lives and the society they live in and that is reflected in how in demand nursing jobs are and how bloated the medical field is because everyone is sick even in their best most biologically stable years of their life.

There's a lot of current debate about prescription drug prices. Most of it seems to focused on PBMs, rebates and transparency. Those are some issues but drug manufacturers set the initial prices for the medicines.

I'm interested on hearing from people who work in healthcare or who have dealt this with. Should the policymakers put the most attention on manufacturer prices, PBM practices or insurance coverage, if their goal is to lower what patients pay?

I swear the people running our hospital operations live in a completely different reality.

They just dropped the annual compliance modules and sent this super passive aggressive email to the charge nurses about getting it all done by friday. My unit is currently running a 1:6 ratio on a good day. There is literally ONE working desktop at the main nursing station, and it takes ten minutes just to load the heavy legacy HR portal. When exactly are my nurses supposed to sit down and do this?

We at least fought to get itacit implemented recently so the techs and CNAs can just knock out their basic safety checklists and daily updates on their phones in the breakroom, which definitely helps. But upper management still refuses to give the RNs actual protected time off the floor for the heavy certification stuff

They just expect you to magically find 3 hours during a shift where you're putting out literal fires. then they wonder why unit turnover is at 40%. just exhausting tbh.

Hi everyone, a little background: I graduated with a Bachelor in Public Health and Economics with minor in Healthcare Admin (graduated 2025). I'm pursuing my MPH (graduating 2027) and have always been wanting to set my foot on Admin Fellow. However, I have little working experience in healthcare. My working experience has been mostly regulatory affairs for biopharma company. However, I did research assistant for non-profit and various volunteer experiences. I've found it hard to break into working in hospitals as I applied to tons and mostly got rejected. Thus, I hope to apply to fellowship to get my foot into the door. I connected with many Fellow and most of them had experience in working in a hospital or clinic. Any advice to prepare myself for the next application cycle and how I can stand out when competing with more qualified candidates? Thank you so so much!

TLDR: little working experience MPH candidate trying to prepare for Admin Fellow. What can I do to maximize my chance?