Summary:
During this observation activity, I went with my boyfriend's mother, Amy, to her follow-up appointment for her nerve pain at La Clinica. Her appointment was scheduled at 2:30pm on a Friday afternoon. We arrived 10 minutes before her scheduled appointment. We waited in a long line to check-in at the front desk. After checking in, the front office receptionist told us to have a seat in the waiting room and her name will be called when they were ready for her. While sitting in the lobby, I noticed that the patient pool were predominantly Hispanics, Blacks and Asian. There were an overload amount of people at the Clinic and there were lines that seemed to never end. We waited for 30 minutes until we were finally called in. Amy had a seat in the patient chair, while our nurse took her blood pressure. Once the nurse took her blood pressure readings, we waited until 15-20 minutes before actually seeing the doctor. The doctor told Amy that her blood pressure was normal. She constantly told the doctor she felt nerve pain all over her body and she's been to the emergency room multiple times in the last week, but all tests showed her body was normal and there's no sign of nerve damage. The doctor advised Amy that she should proceed with further testings and x-rays to better find out what's the problem and how to help her from there on out. We were guided out of the patient room to get the additional testing and we told to schedule another appointment for the doctor to evaluate the tests and review the results with us. I noticed that our session with the doctor lasted only 15 minutes. We had to wait in line to take her x-rays and wait in another line for electromyogram and nerve conduction testing. When we were trying to make her next appointment, the receptionist told us that next appointment wont be for another 3-4 months and they were gonna call us for our next appointment.
Analysis:
Attending a county-based clinic showed the impacted amount of minority patients waiting to seek treatment. The amount of minority patients, the endless long lines and wait times were some of my main observations. This shows that this clinic is understaffed and forces long wait times, regardless if the patient has an appointment or health insurance. Minority patients seem to be at the lowest priority when it comes to treatment because they have to wait for every little procedure and treatment. Our assumption is that doctors have too many patients to see and they can only spend so much time with each individual patient. Their schedule is also so impacted that patients have to schedule follow-up patients that can extend anymore from 3-6 months. More serious procedures that require referral to specialists will extend even longer. Unfortunately, minority patients are forced to go to these type of clinics because they don't have health insurance and can't afford to pay for expensive treatments. They don't have the income to finance better health insurance for a better hospital, like Kaiser or UC San Francisco.
Response:
This observation activity opened my eyes to the world of what minority patients go through. I truly believe that minority patients are the lowest priority when it comes to seeking treatment. Money is an important factor for minority health disparities because minorities don't have the income background to support good health insurance. Attending this doctor's appointment as a visitor, I feel frustrated at the lack of foundation in serving minority patients better. They are constantly waiting in over-impacted lines and doctors are not providing the upmost attention to serve the patients. With Amy's situation, she has felt nerve damage for a very long time already. The additional testing is an understandable procedure to identifying where her pain is coming from, but scheduling an appointment that is months away will not minimize her pain and ultimately will worsen her health. Minorities should be treated like any other patient who requires health attention and they shouldn't be differentiated based on her income or whether or not they have insurance.
2 comments:
Hi Jenny,
I haven't had health care for the majority of my twenties. Because of this, I have been made to go to clinics and urgent care. In my personal experience I have noticed that my visits have seemed rushed and took nearly two hours to be seen at times. It's a very frustrating experience. However, because my wife is pregnant, and she has health insurance, I have had the opportunity to accompany her to numerous Kaiser appointments. While the wait times weren't nearly as long, I found the care to be equally rushed. Perhaps we need to start examining the staffing of all healthcare facilities. Thanks for sharing your experience!
I found this to be the most interesting post for the reasons I stated above.
In addition, through your blog I learned a multitude of factors that go into the lack of quality healthcare for minority patients. I liked that you presented an opposing view in your article selection, though I too greatly disagree with the generalization that minorities choose to go to the lesser hospitals. It's alarming to know certain people have that perception.
In addition, I enjoyed the interview you conducted, and found it interesting that one of the major hurdles preventing minorities from getting health care is the language barrier; something so simple can cause such harm.
On a side note, I actually do know of a fantastic doctor that works at la Clinica. He learned Spanish just so he could work there, and takes tremendous pride in the works he does; one of his patients actually named her son after him!
Great work, and I really enjoyed working with you throughout the semester. Best of luck to you in the future!
Taylor
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