Health Care Reform Reaches 'Improv' Phase

Health Care Reform Reaches ‘Improv’ Phase

The new health care:

Hospitals around the country are competing for newly-insured patients, and one way to increase patient satisfaction, they figure, might be to reduce the frustratingly long wait times in the ER. To that end, Northridge and its parent company Dignity Health started offering online appointments last summer; since then, more than 22,000 patients have reserved spots at emergency rooms in California, Arizona and Nevada.

Why stop here? Why not just rebuild the entire medical establishment from the emergency room out? One big door with the word “DOCTOR PLACE” above it, where anyone can walk in and be told quickly that it’s either too early or too late to do anything; either that they’re dying or they’re not. “Emergency rooms are there to take care of people who have emergencies,” some buzzkill doctor says, rudely. Every medical condition is an emergency when it’s yours! And every emergency room is a clinic when sickly health insurance plans still treat preventative care like a luxury.