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methdxman
Joined: 14 Sep 2010
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 Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2011 10:47 pm Post subject: |
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| yeti08 wrote: |
| thegadfly wrote: |
Sorry, but if you add 2 hours of waiting at the front end, an hour of waiting in the middle, and double or triple the cost of the visit, it sounds like a trip to a US hospital emergency room....
Pain gets worse for 3 days after the injury -- pain will be the worst on the third day -- after that it should lessen. If it does NOT by day 4, then yeah, there is a problem -- but injuries hurt MORE in the first three days after receiving them -- the body's way of saying, "hey, don't move this injured part!"
It sucks that you had a bad experience when you were hurting, but really, it wasn't THAT bad of an experience. In the US I have waited 90 minutes for a SCHEDULED appointment, and have had to sit for up to 4 hours with a bloody towel on my hand, waiting to see someone to sew me up. Didn't get prescribed any painkillers then either.... |
Right, the pain and swelling have subsided a lot which makes me feel a lot more comfortable with the fact that I did not schedule an appointment today. Just frustrating, makes you wonder if I were Korean if I'd have the same experience. The insurance company also may refuse to cover this at all. Happy days.
Lesson learned unless I am dying stay away from ER's. Here, in America, and 99% of other countries in the world. |
Stop trying to make yourself the victim of some crime. Your elbow got hurt, had full range of motion and x-ray showed no break. You know you can buy ibuprofen over the counter right?
If you're so concerned about your elbow go see an orthopedic surgeon.
The ED is there to TRIAGE and to keep the most urgent patients from dying. A bum elbow is on the bottom of the list and if they can quickly get rid of you they will. Their job is not to take care of your little elbow-welbow. You're lucky they even saw you quickly. They took care of it.
Now your job is to grow a sack and either deal with the pain or go see an orthopedic surgeon for a 'higher' opinion. Their job, AGAIN I REPEAT, is not to come up with a recovery plan for your elbow. They stabilized you, now be a friggin adult and go deal with it.
And this is why America is going to hell in a handbasket because everyone thinks they're a f'ing victim, thus all the lawsuits, incessant whining and self-victimizing. |
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yeti08
Joined: 04 Nov 2009
Location: Anyang - Pyeongchon
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| Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2011 11:10 pm Post subject: |
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| Nevermind.....wow |
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yeti08
Joined: 04 Nov 2009
Location: Anyang - Pyeongchon
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| Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2011 11:34 pm Post subject: |
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I "like" how all too often a simple question, vent, or just a statement gets turned into an assault.
Most of you are right I am a big American baby that expects too much. Thanks for your "advice".
Shame that this site often turns into this very thing. |
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marsavalanche
Joined: 27 Aug 2010
Location: where pretty lies perish
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| Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 12:50 am Post subject: |
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| yeti08 wrote: |
I "like" how all too often a simple question, vent, or just a statement gets turned into an assault.
Most of you are right I am a big American baby that expects too much. Thanks for your "advice".
Shame that this site often turns into this very thing. |
What "very thing" are you referring to? The responses are just keeping it real.
Sadly as an American I have to admit you come off as a whiny baby that is used to having everything handed to you in life. What are you doing in Korea? Someone who wants to sue over a frozen water bottle because they weren't handed an ice pack does not belong here.
Let this thread serve as a reality check to you. MAYBE, just maybe, it's you, not us. Take it for what it's worth and hopefully (although I doubt it from your tone) you change for the better. |
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methdxman
Joined: 14 Sep 2010
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| Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 1:49 am Post subject: |
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| yeti08 wrote: |
I "like" how all too often a simple question, vent, or just a statement gets turned into an assault.
Most of you are right I am a big American baby that expects too much. Thanks for your "advice".
Shame that this site often turns into this very thing. |
Sorry, I was a bit harsh, but honestly, your expectations for what an ED should do are a bit off... They need to stabilize you and get you the hell out of there. And I think they did that job properly.
Next time you suffer an injury you should go to the ED only if you fear you need immediate care, otherwise go to a specialist whose job it is to put you on a recovery path that you expect.
The ED is not for that...I. |
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runthegauntlet
Joined: 02 Dec 2007
Location: the southlands.
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| Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 1:53 am Post subject: |
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I'd had two ER visits and they were both brilliant. Literally was examined two minutes after walking in both times. Had x-rays and the works one time and was still in and out in under an hour.
I absolutely dread going to an emergency room in the States, but it wasn't anything in Korea.
Similar experience when going for stress test, sonogram, and MRI (different occasions). In and out very quickly, very well taken care of, and very efficient work.
Zero complaints. |
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lithium
Joined: 18 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 6:01 am Post subject: |
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| Radius wrote: |
| It'll be in the same in America soon. Socialized health care. No thanks. |
Thank you Obama. Do you liberals realize that this is coming to an ER near you? |
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lithium
Joined: 18 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 6:09 am Post subject: |
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| Johnwayne wrote: |
| Radius wrote: |
| It'll be in the same in America soon. Socialized health care. No thanks. |
I guess you missed the stories where people die while waiting in the ER in the U.S. Die in the middle of the emergency room and aren't noticed for significant periods of time by trained medical staff.
I guess you also missed the stories about people being financially bankrupted by unexpected medical events in the U.S. on a regular basis or the extraordinary cost of the routine medical treatments, when compared to other developed countries.
By the way, do you even know what Socialism means or are you just parroting the talking points you pick up off Fox news?
I had to go the ER in the U.S. before I came to Korea. I waited for a good 4 hours to see a doctor for all of 5 mins, got a few liters of saline solution stuck in me, a couple spoonfuls of Mylanta and a blood test. Grand total of this fantastic care was over $2500 US. $2500 for 3 liters of salt water, Mylanta, a blood test and the privilege of being able to wait in the ER for 4 hours before getting to see a doctor. Hmmm... I thought America was a developed country. Clearly, a privatized healthcare system is the way to go. 
OP, you can argue malpractice, but you will lose. Guaranteed. I don't even think there is an honest lawyer that would represent you based on what you have described.
You have to pay out of pocket, 100,000 won. Wow.... That is probably what it costs for them to give you an X-ray and provide you with the bandages/cast. Not even what it costs to pay the staff that actually read the x-rays and determined you had what amounted to a sprain and nothing more serious. |
Post one of these "stories" you speak of. If not, move along. |
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ontheway
Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Location: Somewhere under the rainbow...
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| Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 8:16 am Post subject: Re: Emergency Room Failure |
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| yeti08 wrote: |
Alright so I am trying to find out if there is anything I can do about malpractice. I'd also like to hear any other ER horror stories.
Long story short -- I partially dislocated my elbow playing basketball. The joint was in place and had a full range of motion, but was really sore and swollen. So I went to the ER. Big mistake. Before anyone says it was the language barrier, shut it. I speak decent Korean and had my girlfriend with me who is really good at translating.
We arrived and waited upwards of 45 minutes before anything happened. After 45 minutes a nurse came over and took my blood pressure and temperature. Then handed me a frozen bottle of water to use as an ice pack?!?! No bag, no wrap, just a frozen bottle of water. At a hospital. I had a ziploc bag of crushed ice with a bandana on it from my house. So even though it was almost completely melted I denied the frozen bottle of water. The brick of ice would have caused more harm than good. What ER doesn't have an icepack?
After waiting another 20 minutes a doctor came over and we explained the situation, he came to my waiting room seat. Conversed with us for under a minute, did not even touch my arm. Then sent me to get Xrays. I wanted to walk out, but my gf insisted I continue. I got the Xrays and went back to the ER. Waited another 10-15 minutes and the doctor came back and said there's no break. Still not touching or examining the arm. He told me I'd get a splint and have to come back or schedule another appointment elsewhere in 3 days. I was livid. I got the splint which was a quick cast and several ace bandages. The swelling had not yet subsided, so the cast was a really bad idea. I tried arguing the cast saying I wouldn't be able to ice it now. The nurse left and came back insisting I need to get this.
The next day the cast was causing a lot of pain and with the ER prescribing NO anti-inflammitories or pain killers I was in a lot of pain. I took the cast off and the elbow was swollen much more. Since taking the cast off I have been icing it and wrapping it to protect it. The swelling and pain have subsided 10 fold since removing the cast. I will not be reporting to any hospital to get a check-up. I was billed 193,500 won for the ER visit. Half of which will be covered by my insurance company.
Can I argue that they made the injury worse and not pay anything? Has anyone else had similar awful experiences? I thought Korea was a developed nation.......frozen water bottle? |
Unless you end up with some permanent disability from some failure to provide proper treatment you have no case for malpractice.
Since you removed your own splint and did not appear for a follow up visit as advised, even if you have some permanent damage, you will have to prove that it was caused by the hospital, emergency room staff or attending physician and not by your own actions and failure to act.
In short, you are SOL.
As for your bill, you can probably get away with not paying, but you owe the money. The hospital provided the service and x-ray and splint that met the standard of care they thought proper. The price was reasonable. Your insurance will pay their share as required (I'm assuming that you have the standard Korean National Health Insurance - yes, a socialized health 3rd party payer).
Chill. Pay the bill.
Rest up. Take care of your arm.
Move on with your life.
Be more careful in the future when doing sports.
Good luck. |
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runthegauntlet
Joined: 02 Dec 2007
Location: the southlands.
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| Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 4:04 pm Post subject: |
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| lithium wrote: |
| Radius wrote: |
| It'll be in the same in America soon. Socialized health care. No thanks. |
Thank you Obama. Do you liberals realize that this is coming to an ER near you? |
I've had nothing but good experiences with hospitals and clinics in Korea. I would love to have similar experiences in the U.S. |
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GregH
Joined: 28 Nov 2010
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northway
Joined: 05 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 10:06 pm Post subject: |
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| So you spent about an hour and a half in the hospital for an ER visit? Two hours? That's no worse than the States. |
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Triban
Joined: 14 Jul 2009
Location: Suwon Station
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| Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 10:36 pm Post subject: |
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That's nothing. GF had to go to the ER and it took 10 hours. TEN. It took them an hour just to hand us the bill. (Korean ER)
In all fairness American ERs are the same. I had a deep gash in my arm and went to the ER. The removed my bandage and it started squirting blood. The nurse reapplied the bandage so gingerly blood started to soak the bandage and drip down my arm. I had to go to the restroom to properly apply it and stop the bleeding. I was seen 8 hours later. 8. In excruciating pain. The sword (don't ask) had scraped my bicep. Once they started the stitches, the doctor did not numb the area enough and I could feel every stitch. She realized this and tried to give me another shot but I told her it was too late (she was already halfway done). This excellent care cost an upwards of $2,000.
One thing I CAN say is, the Korean ER is cheaper.
However I still feel the clinic Doctors in America are superior than in Korea. |
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CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
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| Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 10:58 pm Post subject: |
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I snapped a bone in my foot a few years ago and the Korean hospital was awesome with their treatment from the second I got there (the school nurse called their Emergency Department to inform them she was taking me there--broke my foot at school), to the time I was discharged about four weeks later, and for all the follow-up visits.
OP: You should've followed medical advice. |
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Zyzyfer
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Location: who, what, where, when, why, how?
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| Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 11:27 pm Post subject: |
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| lithium wrote: |
| Post one of these "stories" you speak of. If not, move along. |
lol seriously?
I think pretty much any American you ask to describe an expensive emergency room nightmare will have something that's not even anecdotal. People on the thread are pointing out that they've paid thousands of dollars for minimal effort.
Hell, my own mother had an emergency appendectomy and historectomy - the appendectomy was a misdiagnosis but they took it out anyway. A few days in the hospital and she was looking at at least $10,000 in hospital bills, maybe more. We were poor, I forget if she had Medicaid at the time or not, but I was very humbled by just how quickly 10 grand can be spent.
Meanwhile, here in Korea, I actually had my request for an MRI in a routine doctor's visit turned down. |
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