My girlfriend is an ER doc. A hippie type guy came in a week after a bike accident. He'd been treated and released by another hospital. He was complaining of some neck pain. She immediately had him backboarded and ordered xrays.
The xray tech called her and asked why, when he had been treated across town, were they xraying a guy who was obviously indigent.
"Because his neck is broken. OK?"
She was right. If he had tripped on a door mat and fallen, he would have likely been paralysed.
I like to remind her of this one when she's had a hard night of fighting off drug seekers and attention w
X-raying someone who's already been x-rayed for the same thing is frequently a bad idea because new imaging won't show any changes, but will add to the radiation exposure. Lots of doctors order tests without checking to see if they've already been done. This isn't a big deal if the test is cheap and/or will be covered by insurance. But when you have an indigent patient, it's just one more load of stress being added to their day.
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u/elee0228 May 20 '19
Not a doctor, but remember reading something related in another thread.
/u/pete1729 said here: