A report by Jenny Gold in the Washington Post (February 4th) states that the average amount of time you have to wait to see a GP in Washington DC is 14 days, and if you need to see a cardiologist you wait 32 days. In Boston it is even worse: 66 days to see a GP and 72 days to see a dermatologist. If you are on Medicaid ( and therefore considered poor) you find that 73% of doctors will treat you, 23% in Dallas. As for Medicare (for older people) 86.4% of doctors accept Medicare patients in Washington DC, but nationwide the figure is 76%.
Yesterday I focused on The CVS drugstore chain, and their intention to offer walk-in clinics for minor ailments. Looking at the above statistics you can see there is a big need and an opportunity to do something important for the community.
The amusing thing is that, when healthcare comes up in conversation at a dinner party, healthcare- conscious Americans can be heard to day that you cannot get timely medical help in countries like the UK, because the system is state run. That criticism is partly true, although mainly for non-urgent conditions. Nonetheless, here is an issue of biblical motes in the eye – fix your own problems before criticizing others!
But politicians keep saying the US has the best healthcare in the world! How can you have the best healthcare in the world when waiting times are unacceptable and large numbers of doctors won’t even see you?
In London, for instance, that hotbed of wicked socialism, the doctor’s surgery is open to everyone every morning of the week from 8.45 to 10 a.m and from 4- 6.30 p.m. There is a walk-in system, Monday to Friday. You can just turn up and the doctor will see you, albeit for a maximum of 15 minutes. The doctors are salaried employees, rather well paid. They don’t have to worry about profit.
If you are ill over a weekend you can phone a nurse who will listen to your problem and get a doctor or specialist to phone you back within half an hour. If appropriate he or she will see you at a hospital in your district – immediately! In the middle of the night! No hospital waits!