Re:Introducing Uber Health, Removing Transportation as a Bar...
by csydas on Friday March 02, 2018 @02:48AM
(#16499837)
> Especially when you realise that most people dont really need to see a doctor.
With regards to the US, the issue isn't the medical need to see a doctor, it's the bureaucratic need to see one, as you can't get approved for extended sick leave without it.
Such visits (and per this document [1, pg 7-8], many ER visits) are for purely bureaucratic reasons, such as no insurance or no other providers available. I interpret this as largely a workflow issue with regards to the availability of the simple care. A separate style clinic or service dedicated and allowed by Employers/Insurance which deals in low-priority cases for the purpose of documentation (e.g., flu clinics) would solve a lot of these issues, but, as I found out with my previous employer and insurance, flu clinics are "not real doctors", and as such cannot be submitted for sick leave claims.
I think we'd see the numbers for inappropriate/unnecessary visits drop rapidly if Employers/Insurance accepted such documentation more easily/readily.
With regards to the US, the issue isn't the medical need to see a doctor, it's the bureaucratic need to see one, as you can't get approved for extended sick leave without it.
Such visits (and per this document [1, pg 7-8], many ER visits) are for purely bureaucratic reasons, such as no insurance or no other providers available. I interpret this as largely a workflow issue with regards to the availability of the simple care. A separate style clinic or service dedicated and allowed by Employers/Insurance which deals in low-priority cases for the purpose of documentation (e.g., flu clinics) would solve a lot of these issues, but, as I found out with my previous employer and insurance, flu clinics are "not real doctors", and as such cannot be submitted for sick leave claims.
I think we'd see the numbers for inappropriate/unnecessary visits drop rapidly if Employers/Insurance accepted such documentation more easily/readily.
[1] - https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr090.pdf