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Telehealth hmm [status]
Jun. 25th, 2024 06:12 amOn Saturday a bacterial infection on my leg made itself known. Over the next couple of days, the infected area grew, and has been warm to the touch. This has finally motivated me to get set up with the college's latest and greatest* health insurance provider.
First impression: their online interface does not do much to inspire confidence; it feels like it was created by a first-year computer science student.
However, they did have a symptom checker, which led to the recommendation of a telehealth appointment via a third-party platform.
And really, compared to the hassle that would have been driving 30 minutes to the closest in-network urgent care facility, telehealth was incredibly fast and easy. I just filled out some forms, waited a couple of minutes, then had a video call with a perfectly nice doctor.
I do have to wonder about what it's like to be on the other side of these calls. Telehealth seems like a great option for many types of care.
Antibiotics will commence once the nearest pharmacy is open to dispense them.
*There have been a lot of complaints.
The whole modern situation with health insurance in the US has caused me to be even more medically-averse than I was previously. It's not that I'm actively medically-averse, it's that the time and energy cost of getting set up with primary care is high enough that I put it off indefinitely until some form of crisis I can't handle directly. You can just look at what it took for me to finally schedule a haircut to get a sense of what I mean.
First impression: their online interface does not do much to inspire confidence; it feels like it was created by a first-year computer science student.
However, they did have a symptom checker, which led to the recommendation of a telehealth appointment via a third-party platform.
And really, compared to the hassle that would have been driving 30 minutes to the closest in-network urgent care facility, telehealth was incredibly fast and easy. I just filled out some forms, waited a couple of minutes, then had a video call with a perfectly nice doctor.
I do have to wonder about what it's like to be on the other side of these calls. Telehealth seems like a great option for many types of care.
Antibiotics will commence once the nearest pharmacy is open to dispense them.
*There have been a lot of complaints.
The whole modern situation with health insurance in the US has caused me to be even more medically-averse than I was previously. It's not that I'm actively medically-averse, it's that the time and energy cost of getting set up with primary care is high enough that I put it off indefinitely until some form of crisis I can't handle directly. You can just look at what it took for me to finally schedule a haircut to get a sense of what I mean.
