re: ER waiting rooms

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I have sympathy for stuff like that and wish there was more incentive for primary care providers to see Medicare/Medicaid patients.

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Medicare sucks because the reimbursement sucks.

Medicaid sucks because the patients are terrible AND the reimbursement sucks. If I were a doc, I would prefer to see Medicare all day over one Medicaid patient.

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Why wouldn’t you go to a walk in clinic?

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Because they don't help

Screw OLOL. Was in very deep pain to were the wife carried me into OLOL ER. I couldn't even sit, had to lay on the floor. Took over a hour and a half before bringing me in the back. They ordered a cat scan. L4 was way out of place. They saw that and was like white on rice with pain meds. Mean time, seeing a grown man crying one would think that that person was in pain. Even the guard came and asked WTF.

I will NEVER go back to OLOL.

Time is tissue with a torsion. That's an easy way to lose a nut.

I had a patient spend 10 hours in the ER to be sent home and told to follow up with me without any significant intervention because they refused to pay a $25 copay.

That patient also did not follow up.

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Having better access to primary care would be nice. It’s a part of why people go to the ER. “I tried calling my doctors office and no one picked up.” “I’m out of my meds and no one responded to my refill request.” “I have these new symptoms and they couldn’t get me in for another four months.”

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More than that: Idiots are idiots and will always be idiots. I have people who will call the office three times in an hour for a refill request and act like the office is the problem. The nurse and doctor are with patients. You call the front. The front gives the message to the nurse who checks it in between patients or at lunch/end of day who asks the doctor when he gets a minute between patients or lunch or end of day to respond. More calls simply leads to slower response times.
Impatience, poor education, and lack of being proactive (calling before the last pill is out of the bottle) on the part of the patient are way more to blame than poor access.

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incentive for primary care providers to see Medicare/Medicaid patients.

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Most everyone will see medicare without a problem. Adult Medicaid just doesn't pay well and doesn't cover a whole lot of in-office stuff, and in general the patients are as above- impatient, undereducated, and not proactive.

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If I have to go to the ER for anything I just put on my ICE hat and shirt.

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I'll have to remember that. I have a Border Patrol cap.

At my age, one would not think that. That and along with tears streaming out one eyes. No. How many people will lay down on a floor of a ER?

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At my age, one would not think that. That and along with tears streaming out one eyes. No. How many people will lay down on a floor of a ER?

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If we were betting, I'd bet that the Lake ER staff can tell you about several times junkies came in and did pretty much exactly what you did. It sucks to be there in pain, but the ER staff is constantly bombarded with junkies. Pair that with someone who comes in with life-threatening injuries while you're lying there in pain and you get what you experienced.