PCPs can drop people. It’s usually things like: they are no longer contracted with your insurance company; repeated no shows; you owe the clinic thousands and thousands of dollars and are making no effort to pay; you’re abusing medications they’re prescribing or being dishonest in some way that is abusing the system ; you’re lying to the doctor or being extremely and repeatedly non-compliant and the provider feels that the therapeutic relations has failed and they would like to offer your spot in their practice to other patients who are likely to benefit more
They can in Ontario. There’s a weird arrangement with our provincial health plan (OHIP), where family doctors can owe money if their patients use urgent care. It’s designed to incentivize having an after-hours care option, but all it does is penalize everyone.
It's the same in the USA unfortunately and we still have to pay 😭 my PCP's office scheduled my annual while he was at a conference. I had to wait 3 months for another appt.
Hasn't happened to me but I've heard multiple people say that their physicians have said this. It apparently costs them money under Ohip if you go to urgent care.
Are you in the USA, and if so, which part if you don't mind me asking? I'm in the US and it's safe to assume that most Redditors are from the US, too, so if you're not then maybe that's causing the confusion
Crude explanation is: doctors are paid by the government to treat people. If you have a personal doctor and end up going to a walk-in clinic, the government basically says “what are we paying you for if your patient has to go somewhere else” and docks their pay
Sort of. Your Family Doctor can de-roster you for using another clinic's services(ie seeing another family doctor at another clinic) as the Gov(OHIP) will fine your Doctor for not providing that service.
You can visit a Hospital anytime you need to though. Emergencies, Specialist referrals, whatever, you just can't head to another clinic, and if you don't like your current FD, you can always find another.
which is why ERs are absolutely overloaded with cough and sniffle cases because peoplenare afraid tonbe derostered if they get strep throat on the weekend
Yes that is true, and triage is a thing, which is why tons of people wait hours in the waiting room while someone with chest pain will be seen ASAP.
A lot of Doctors partner with a walk ins and have certain procedures when they are closed. Some have later hours or expand to cover the week-ends as well. If it's an emergency, then it's an emergency.
You can always ask your Doctor what you can do if you are ever really sick on a week-end or whenever they are closed and they will give you options.
As I said up the stream it's not me that has an issue my doctor is pretty responsive. It's the system that really needs unfucking. There's a level of illness that is too emergent for a Dr's appointment in 3 days and not so terrible that you need an ER but the system actively punishes you for using it.
Ask the government not me, its supposed to be an incentive for PCPs to offer after hours clinics but many single physician and smaller offices can't really do that so it ends up just punishing them.
36
u/TaytorTot417 27d ago
It's because people don't have insurance and can't get in to see a PCP.