The situation that irks me is when I try to schedule a visit with an MD, they always ask if I currently have a fever, or have had one in the last few days. Once my answer was ‘yes’, but I was not concerned as I was starting to feel better, and my visit was for nothing relating to current condition. They would not schedule my appointment, even though it was MONTHS in the future. Obviously I needed to call back and say no, but that just seemed silly.
My telehealth visits have all been 100% covered, as have my urgent care and in person visits. It feels MUCH more efficient for me to have a quick urgent visit with my regular providers than explain everything to a new provider in urgent care — tried it once and since then have been able to work with my lung doc and his staff to get the help I need for infections between visits.
There is an ortho urgent care 10 miles from my home. They have you imaged and seen by a PA/NP who is supervised by an md. If you need to or want to you can schedule to be seen by one of the many great orthopedic mds associated with the practice and may be seen by that specialist or his/her PA/NP. If you won’t care, you can have follow up visit at the urgent care and they can dispense walking boot, crutches, PT, whatever you need. Being seen by that clinic is the gateway to being seen by the top ortho mds.
OK, now you’ve made me nervous and I’m off to double-check that my BCBS still covers our telehealth, which I’m 99% sure is the case.
Yay, our BCBs still covers telehealth visits!
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I wonder if my Anthem BC/BS has some situations that fall through the cracks. I just looked at it again and it looks like they cover telehealth for primary care providers and mental health, but not specialty providers. Mine was with a gastroenterology clinic. So I’m definitely going to call and confirm coverage before I do it again with any office. That was a $230 surprise for ten minutes.
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That sure would be a surprise. I have had telehealth visits with my lung doc’s office this year and medicare covered most and bcbs covered small copay.
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Must be just my plan. I’ve never had an issue with coverage, so this was surprising. Glad yours covers it!
Just an FYI: Telehealth is currently covered by original Medicare, but only through December 31, 2024. There are some exceptions, particularly for those in rural areas (but there are rules associated with that). See this explanation: Telehealth Insurance Coverage.
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That’s really too bad. One of my specialists is almost an hour away. I just need an annual check in with them, and they receive my blood work. The telehealth visits the last four years have been terrific! Time saver for me driving, and I think for the provider as well.
I think that telehealth is a bonus for older people who can’t easily get out. Obviously, there are things that need in-person care. But for things that could be handled via telemedicine, it seems like it would be a positive thing. For example, I have to get an ultrasound annually to monitor my kidneys. I have a separate appointment later with the doctor to discuss the results. No exam involved. I don’t mind returning to the office, but if it was physically difficult or if I didn’t drive, telemedicine would be perfect.
For those with Medicare Advantage, remember that your plan may or may not mirror original Medicare. Check with your plan to know for sure.
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I actually really like telehealth for many types of visits but we really wanted to see a doctor in person when actually feeling sick.
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I don’t understand how a video appointment is useful for something like a fever. Don’t they need to do things like listen to your chest and swab your throat to properly diagnose and write a prescription if needed?
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Frankly , that is ridiculous. I would get a new one. DH and I are both primary care and see febrile patients all the time. Now if it is fever and severe chest pain or something that obviously needs an ER, that is different.
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Precisely. It is bad practice to try to diagnose causes of fevers over video. You have to see ears and listen to lungs and more.
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No, no ER issues. But when you make an appointment, they won’t see you in person if you might be contagious!
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Editing to add that our clinic is part of a medium-sized HMO in Los Angeles. I’m now curious to see if the other “branches” of the HMO have the same rules or if it is localized to the 7-physician clinic that we are assigned to.
Some situations may require an in-person diagnosis and be situations where the symptoms could be due to something contagious. How do medical offices handle such situations to avoid anything contagious from spreading to the staff or other patients?
Same. We have a high deductible HSA. Going to urgent care is faster but more than double the cost of an office visit for me. I won’t make that mistake again for something like a sinus infection. My PCP is hard to get into see at a minute’s notice, but I can usually get into see someone in the same practice if I need to.
I haven’t been in a while, but I’ve also used CVS Minute Clinic for minor things, and they were about the same as an office visit. Not sure if that still holds true.
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Curious what is considered to be a lot? In the early 2000s we paid $150 at the pediatrician or urgent care to see if a kid had strep or the flu. At the ENT it was $250. Last time we went to urgent care for something it was still around $150, maybe $200 if we needed an X-ray.
Our ER would charge several thousand for the same visit.
I WISH we had a minute clinic!!! I used one at the beach once for a sinus infection and it was perfect for what I needed
I don’t remember the exact shunt but I know it was over $1000. It didn’t used to be so much.
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I believe my urgent care visit (last October) was in the $400 range. I had a persistent barking cough (Covid negative) and a couple of back-to-back trips planned so I wanted to try and get it cleared up (didn’t really want to be hacking up a lung on my flights). Came away with confirmation that I did indeed have a cough, which I would unfortunately have to wait out. My bad. If I didn’t have the trips planned, I wouldn’t have gone in. I ultimately decided to cancel the one trip and try to rally for the 2nd one.
Urgent care is tempting because it’s right down the street, and I can make an appointment.
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That is a lot. Ours isn’t that bad, but I haven’t been in a couple of years either. And we always have a long wait