2B
Agreed.
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A step back to doctors... especially primary care and general practitioners. We see a sea change in this, and although we have a GP here in IL, in Florida, many if not most of our residents use what is loosely called "Urgent Care" for almost all primary care services.
This change has evolved over the past 10 years, from a part time doctor, to now... four "resident" doctors, and numerous physician assistants, nurses and aides. All of these doctors have affiliation with the local hospital(s). While it isn't possible to have regular appointments... just wait in line (though the lines rarely go beyond 30 minutes). Our residents, "call" the doctors their Primary Care Physicians, but this is in name only... and the biggest benefit is that all records are accessible for any doctor.
We have similar situation with outlying medical services here in Illinois, though the growth is not as fast as in Florida. Just this year, the major hospital has offered a care center in a local mall... with 24/7 doctors who are primarily affiliated with the hospital. I have been told that this facility will likely see a doubling or tripling of services within the next year.
In both places, the basic charge is $65 to $75... Much less than the $290 to $500 emergency room fees.
The doctors prescribe medications, blood tests and other basic XRay and common test services... and are closely coordingated with ambulance and paperwork for hospital entry.
I am aware that Urgent Care Centers exist in most towns today, however, unless you know exactly what they provide, and what their hours are, it is possible that they may be so limited in ability as to be more of problem than a solution... For instance, our local Walmart has a "clinic", but is staffed only by a retired nurse or even an intern nurses aide, with no ability to offer more than over the counter medications or to refer a person to an emergency room.
Ok for coughs, colds or UTI's but not much beyond. Of course YMMV...