Over the past decade or two amazing advances have been made in the field of medicine. Diseases that were virtual death sentences can now be treated successfully. Sadly, the vast majority of people still have to accept these diseases as death sentences because they cannot afford the exorbitant fees charged by doctors and hospitals. Those without medical insurance have very few options and without a walk in physician clinic Annandale VA patients will often have no options at all.
There are thousands of these clinics all over the United States. Some are run by charities and churches, others by local authorities and many of them by dispensing pharmacies in shopping malls. The main benefit of these clinics is the fact that many offer their services free of charge while others charge a small fee only. Patients can simply go to any clinic and wait until they can be helped.
The level of care offered by these clinics differs from one to the other. Some will only attend to emergencies. Others offer a wider range of services, including the treatment of minor wounds and diseases. Yet others only deal with family planning issues and the immunization of infants. Those without medical insurance should make sure that they know where these clinics are and, more importantly, what services it offer.
Even though the majority of clinics offer very limited services, they remain extremely popular. Almost everyone lives reasonably close to one. None of these clinics ever discriminates in any way such as insisting on proof of residency. Anyone can go to a clinic and expect to be helped without having to answer awkward questions. Another benefit is that most clinics are open from early to late.
Critics say that while the intentions of those running these clinics are admirable, they do not offer proper medical care at acceptable standards. They accept too many patients and waiting times can therefore be many hours. At the same time, these clinics are short of all resources. They do not have enough staff and patients are therefore processed as quickly as possible which inevitably result in inferior service.
Another issue worrying critics is the fact that precious few clinics have a doctor in attendance on a regular basis. Patents are seen by nurses who are not trained to make diagnoses and who are not authorized to prescribe medication. A shortage of vital equipment such as X ray machines makes matter even worse. The result is that most clinics cannot do much more than treat symptoms instead of the real problem.
Critics are particularly worried about the fact that clinics treat patients without any access to their medical histories. They do not know what medication they used in the past, whether they suffer from allergies or whether they have a family history for certain conditions. Without this history it is often extremely difficult to decide upon a treatment regime and it is easy to make mistakes.
There can be absolutely no argument that the poor and disenfranchised do not have access to quality medical care. They have to be satisfied with very basic care from clinics that are themselves under tremendous pressure. One can only hope that the authorities will start to see decent medical care as a basic human right.
There are thousands of these clinics all over the United States. Some are run by charities and churches, others by local authorities and many of them by dispensing pharmacies in shopping malls. The main benefit of these clinics is the fact that many offer their services free of charge while others charge a small fee only. Patients can simply go to any clinic and wait until they can be helped.
The level of care offered by these clinics differs from one to the other. Some will only attend to emergencies. Others offer a wider range of services, including the treatment of minor wounds and diseases. Yet others only deal with family planning issues and the immunization of infants. Those without medical insurance should make sure that they know where these clinics are and, more importantly, what services it offer.
Even though the majority of clinics offer very limited services, they remain extremely popular. Almost everyone lives reasonably close to one. None of these clinics ever discriminates in any way such as insisting on proof of residency. Anyone can go to a clinic and expect to be helped without having to answer awkward questions. Another benefit is that most clinics are open from early to late.
Critics say that while the intentions of those running these clinics are admirable, they do not offer proper medical care at acceptable standards. They accept too many patients and waiting times can therefore be many hours. At the same time, these clinics are short of all resources. They do not have enough staff and patients are therefore processed as quickly as possible which inevitably result in inferior service.
Another issue worrying critics is the fact that precious few clinics have a doctor in attendance on a regular basis. Patents are seen by nurses who are not trained to make diagnoses and who are not authorized to prescribe medication. A shortage of vital equipment such as X ray machines makes matter even worse. The result is that most clinics cannot do much more than treat symptoms instead of the real problem.
Critics are particularly worried about the fact that clinics treat patients without any access to their medical histories. They do not know what medication they used in the past, whether they suffer from allergies or whether they have a family history for certain conditions. Without this history it is often extremely difficult to decide upon a treatment regime and it is easy to make mistakes.
There can be absolutely no argument that the poor and disenfranchised do not have access to quality medical care. They have to be satisfied with very basic care from clinics that are themselves under tremendous pressure. One can only hope that the authorities will start to see decent medical care as a basic human right.
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