Doctor Visits Down, MinuteClinic Visits Up, and 20% of Americans Visit the ER Each Year
Doctor visits are down. They dropped 7.6% (year over year) in May.
But MinuteClinic visits are up. They rose 36% during the second quarter.
One in five people went to the ER in 2007. Among those older than 75, one in four visited the ER at least once.
This shows people make rational choices when they are spending their own money.
Some of these are the signs of a dysfunctional medical marketplace. Why would people go to the emergency room for nonemergency services? They wouldn’t have to if the market for primary care services were allowed to operate like a real market.
I think for most people, Minute Clinics are half the cost of primary care doctors and emergency rooms are viewed as free — at least at safety net hospitals.
There’s something about emergency rooms that makes me want to go only in life or death situations. Perhpas I’m a little price-insensitive about that.
Joe,
It is not a rational choice for someone who needs to go to the doctor but cannot afford it, to not go. It is an economic choice. A choice that may lead to severe consequences quickly.