ER VS URGENT CARE

The Dangers of NOT Going to an ER for Timely Care

- Experience from ER Katy's, Dr. Brown -

Of course, the Insurance Companies don’t want you to go to the ER and are pushing hard for you to get all of your healthcare from an iPad/tablet or urgent care. They have one goal, and it is not your health.

It is to maximize their profits.

greedy doctors

But is this how we should be practicing healthcare? Steering patients to the best care or what is best for the insurance industry’s bottom line?

The insurance companies have set deductibles and co-pays so high, that it financially incentivizes patients to not seek the best care but the cheapest or put off getting medical care completely. My co-pay to go to an ER is $600 with a $6,000 deductible, and that is after a $2,500/month premium. I will admit, when times are tight, I worry about going to the doctor due to fear of having to pay a large sum of money out of pocket. Last year I had an ultrasound on a kidney to break up a stone. My portion for the short procedure was $6,000!

Over the last few years, we have seen more and more patients come to the ER with advanced disease as they are waiting so long to get the care they need. Some of these patients presented to us with what we diagnosed as terminal cancer. They had symptoms for months but were afraid of a high medical bill, so they delayed seeking medical care. If they had come in a few months earlier, they would have been diagnosed with a more treatable vs. terminal cancer and may still be alive today.

The biggest reason not to seek the lowest level of care when sick is that medical ailments are frequently not what they seem. Here are a few examples of mild presentations of an illness ending up being a severe emergency.

If not picked up by a board-certified ER Doctor like the ones at ER Katy, the outcome could have been devastating.

An elderly diabetic patient came to the ER with a fever as his only symptom. After a thorough evaluation, we found a foot infection that had traveled to one of his bones. He was immediately put on the proper IV antibiotics and admitted to the hospital. If he had been sent home without the hidden, non-painful foot infection diagnosed, he would have had to have his foot amputated!

Any delay or misdiagnosis here could have been a catastrophe for the patient. He never had any foot pain that led us to the diagnosis.

Just being evaluated by an excellent, thorough ER doctor at ER Katy saved his foot. This never would have been picked up by telemedicine or a less experienced physician.

I had two patients come to the ER within 2 weeks of each other with shoulder pain. They were both in their 50’s and had moderate cardiac risk factors for heart attack. When I went to see both men, I was told they already had shoulder x-rays which the radiologist read as normal, had been put in slings, and were ready for discharge.

They weren’t in any distress when I went to see them, but both histories and the fact they had cardiac risk factors led me to order EKGs on both men. The nurses were upset by my additional orders as they felt the patients were ready to go home. Both EKGs showed acute heart attacks. Both men had emergent angioplasties with stents placed and did very well. One of the cardiologists called me immediately after the stent placement to tell me the main heart artery was 99% blocked, and if we hadn’t taken care of him so quickly and caught the diagnosis, he would have died that day!

Over the years, I have had many patients come to the ER with benign complaints who ended up having heart attacks or severe problems. If the diagnosis had been missed or delayed, horrible outcomes would have occurred. Patients complaining of toothaches, jaw pain, nonstop hiccups or belching, right or left hand, arm, or even pinky pain having heart attacks!

“Heartburn” can actually be a heart attack!

heartburn vs heart attack

Finally, I am a board-certified ER doctor with over 25 years of experience. A few years ago, I was getting a CT scan of my abdomen to see my kidney stones. In these studies, they usually get the lower parts of the lungs in the image. The radiologist, whom I knew, called me and told me that I had pneumonia! I was there for an outpatient non-emergent CT scan, and coincidentally they had found pneumonia.

I had a low-grade fever, a runny nose, and a mild cough. Nothing major or severe. This is why we have the Emergency Room prudent Layperson standards state that if YOU feel you are having an emergency and seek medical care at an ER, the insurance companies are supposed to pay for your care even if the final diagnosis ends up not being emergent. If an experienced ER Physician can’t self-diagnose when he has pneumonia, how can we expect a non-physician to know when their ailment is emergent or not or can be properly diagnosed by a 2-dimensional tablet or urgent care versus going to an Emergency Room like ER Katy and being seen in person by an experienced staff.

The bottom line. Your health and the health of your family is the most important aspect of health care.

Seek the best and soonest care for you and your loved ones, not what the insurance company feels is best for them.

The list below highlights the major differences in services provided and the care you'll receive when choosing between ER Katy & Urgent Care facilities. 

EMERGENCY ROOM

VS

URGENT CARE​

Chest pain​

Difficulty breathing​

Stroke​

Head trauma​

Severe bleeding​

Loss of vision​

Capable of handling full range of high severity cases​

Open 24/7 weekends and holidays​

Physicians Board Certified in ER on site 24/7​

CT-Scan and Ultrasound​

Full Lab capabilities with results in minutes​

VS

URGENT CARE​

Chest pain​

Difficulty breathing​

Stroke​

Head trauma​

Severe bleeding​

Loss of vision​

Capable of handling full range of high severity cases​

Open 24/7 weekends and holidays​

Physicians Board Certified in ER on site 24/7​

CT-Scan and Ultrasound​

Full Lab capabilities with results in minutes​

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THE ADVANTAGE OF EMERGENCY ROOMS​

Our priority is your health

MEDICAL EXPERTISE​

cert

EMERGENCIES​

emergency

PATIENT EXPERIENCE​

experience