I received a phone call from an elderly gentleman who was closer to ninety years of age than 80, was taking an aspirin, and had just suffered a fall and hit his head. He did not know why or how he fell. He asked for an appointment the same day to “check me out.”
My staff asked all the pertinent questions and immediately brought the information to me. After reviewing it, I felt for his safety his best course of action was to immediately call 911 (or have us do it) and go to our local emergency department for evaluation. The patient takes daily aspirins to prevent a second heart attack or stroke.
The antiplatelet action of the aspirin, plus his age and the head trauma necessitate an immediate and thorough evaluation with imaging. I do not have an X-ray unit, CT scan unit or MRI unit in my internal medicine office. If I bring this gentleman into my office, he must transport himself, wait until I have time later in the day, and probably will then have to wait to be scheduled by an imaging facility for a non-contrast CT scan of the brain to make sure doesn’t have a bleed between his brain and skull or a bleed in the brain. The delay in evaluation can threaten his survival and recovery.
The patient was quite angry at the suggestion – quoting my concierge practice contract that says we will bring you in for a visit the same day for an acute condition. The non-stated content is that we will bring you on the same day for a condition that is appropriate for evaluation in an office setting. The same can be said for someone calling with acute substernal chest pain which could be a heart attack or sudden inability to breathe. Add in excessive bleeding that does not respond to compression or loss of consciousness as conditions that are best evaluated and treated in an emergency department. These are all conditions that require a call to EMS via 911 and an immediate evaluation in an Emergency Department where the equipment exists to quickly evaluate and treat these problems safely.
The patient was worried about the wait in the ED and COVID-19 exposure. Both concerns are understandable despite little transmission of COVID recorded in ED visits or inpatient hospitalizations.
This patient has emailed me twice now demanding a full refund of his membership fee due to a violation of the contract. The reasoning and concern have been explained to him several times already. My concern is that his new-onset short temper and grumpy demeanor are the result of the fall and head trauma which still has not been evaluated.
Patients need to know that there are times a health issue requires evaluation and treatment in an emergency department. It has nothing to do with a contract. It has everything to do with making the right clinical recommendation for the patient.
Steven Reznick is an internal medicine physician and can be reached at Boca Raton Concierge Doctor.
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