Overheard at Urgent Care

While awaiting my Tdap injection at urgent care today, I overheard a troubling conversation.  This specific care center has curtains instead of doors closing off exam rooms, so I was able to hear the situation fairly clearly.

A woman had come in with what I understood to be a very serious GI infection.  She had a fever of 103* and was experiencing nausea, chills, and severe dehydration.  After an initial consultation with the doctor, it was advised that she immediately commence a regimen of a certain antibiotic.  She said she'd first have to see if that medication was on the $4 prescription list at Wal-Mart's pharmacy; a quick call by a staff member on her behalf confirmed that this specific medication was not on their $4 prescription list.  The doctor spent a few minutes discussing with her alternative treatment options that would involve a higher dosage and more side effects on top of being less effective, but may be on the pharmacy's low-cost prescription list regardless.

At this point the LPN came in to get my Tdap authorization form, so I was unable to really hear what was going on in the room across the hall.

However, by the time I left the situation had gotten worse.  I'm not sure exactly what they discovered, but it seems no effective medication could be found for a price that fit her budget.  She said she would take the prescription slip and get it filled when she got paid.  On Tuesday.  The doctor became very stern and told her that this specific infection can become fatal very quickly.  It needed to be treated immediately, so beginning on Tuesday was out of the question.

By the time I left, they had made a plan of action: the woman was to be admitted to Moses Cone so that she could be treated today without having the immediate funds to pay for it.  This will end up costing her (and her insurance company) thousands more, however, it appeared to be the only way this woman would be treated in a timely manner, possibly saving her life.

I'll admit I don't have all the information here.  Part of me thinks if I'd just walked over and handed her $4, she'd have been able to get her medication today and avoid admission to a hospital.  But maybe not.  Like I said, I wasn't an active part of the conversation, this was just what I overheard.  And given how helpful the staff at the urgent care was being, my guess is that they'd thoroughly explored all other options before referring her to the hospital for treatment.

This is our health care system, folks.