|
|
|
|
email your ideas and
comments:
workings@www.jwrworkings.com
Visit the Official Jim Walter Resources
Web Site: www.jimwalterresources.com
|
|
|
|
||
|
Summer 2003 When do you use the Emergency Room?  Seems
like a simple question doesn't it? If you have ever sat in a hospital's
Emergency Room for hours waiting for treatment you probably found out a lot
of people didn't know the answer either. About 95 million Americans visited
an Emergency Room last year. Surprisingly, an estimated 90 percent of visits
to emergency rooms aren't emergencies. That means nine out of every ten
people in the ER should have waited until their doctor's office was open.
Many times, patients use the ER as a convenience rather than a necessity.
The Emergency Room is primarily used for a life-threatening injury or a medical emergency. Life-threatening emergencies are classified more severe and are seen by the Emergency Room Physician before less severe injuries. If a true emergency comes in, those with the sniffles, the flu and minor sprains will be considered a lower priority level. With this in mind, persons with less severe injuries will experience longer waiting times before seeing a Physician. What should I do to prevent an unnecessary visit to the Emergency Room? The first moment you feel you should see a Physician, call your family doctor during office hours or their answering service after hours. If your Physician directs you to the Emergency Room, most likely your visit to an ER is medically necessary but will be reviewed to determine whether it met guidelines for an appropriate level of care. You can also go to an Urgent Care Facility like Emergi-Care, Med Center South, Northport Urgent Care, First Care and Family Medical Care. Urgent Care Facilities have extended hours and are open on weekends. You should only seek treatment in an Emergency Room when your condition is life-threatening or you have a medical emergency or accident that cannot be treated in a Physician’s office or an Urgent Care Facility. This also applies to ambulances. Ambulances should not be called unless there is an injury or medical emergency that is life threatening. What costs can I expect in the Emergency Room? When you visit the Emergency Room for an absolute emergency, JWR Salaried and UMWA employees will pay a $15 Physician copay, the same as seeing a Physician in their office or an Urgent Care Facility (UMWA Coal Act Retiree $5, UMWA Active/Non-Coal Act Retiree $12). Salaried employees must also pay a $100 ER facility charge. If your visit to the ER is deemed as a non-emergency, you will be responsible for the entire ER facility charge (Salaried employees will pay the balance less their $100) which could be several hundred dollars. The Emergency Room visits are marked by the ER Physician with diagnosis codes. These diagnosis codes are used by the health plan administrator to determine payment of the medical bills. The UMWA contract calls for Emergency Room treatment to be rendered within 24 to 48 hours following an injury or medical emergency. In addition, the UMWA Benefit Plan reads, “…services shall be limited to those services which are reasonable and necessary for the diagnosis or treatment of an illness or injury and which are given at the appropriate level of care, or otherwise provided for in the Plan…” Not only will you save time by going to your family physician or an urgent care facility, you will save money as well. WHAT'S NOT URGENT? The following suggested guidelines are courtesy of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama You might be surprised to find that the following conditions usually do not require emergency attention. A fever. High thermometer readings are the cause of more unnecessary ER visits than any other symptom. A high fever often accompanies the flu or a cold and will do a healthy adult no harm. You can treat this by drinking extra liquids and taking an aspirin or acetaminophen. Consult your Physician before giving aspirin to children. A rash. Most rashes are not serious enough to be treated in the emergency room; they could instead be evaluated with your physician over the phone or in the office the next day. However, a rash associated with other symptoms-such as breathing difficulty, headache or fever-may warrant an ER visit. Minor sprains. Twisting your ankle while playing softball can be very painful, but a long wait in the emergency room may do more harm than good. As long as the pain is bearable, your best bet is to "RICE" the injury until you can see a physician during normal hours. RICE is an acronym that suggests the best remedy for most sprains: Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. Even if your injury turns out to be a fracture that requires a cast, your doctor will wait until the swelling goes down to apply one. Bleeding. A nosebleed is more a nuisance than anything else. Simply pinch the nostrils to stop the bleeding. If the bleeding hasn't stopped after several hours, then see a doctor. Coughing up flecks of blood could be a sign of bronchitis, but may also be a sign of lung cancer. Make an appointment to see your doctor. (If you're also experiencing difficulty breathing, go to the emergency room.) A small amount of blood in the stool or vomit is usually not serious, but make an appointment to see your doctor within a few days. In females, blood in the urine may be a sign of a bladder infection, especially if urination is frequent and painful. In this case, begin to drink more fluids such as water or cranberry juice and schedule an appointment with your Physician. A bloody red spot on the white of the eye, called a subconjunctival hemorrhage, should not concern you. The redness usually fades in a few weeks and there is no treatment for the leakage of blood from this tiny vessel. WHAT IS URGENT? The following suggested guidelines are courtesy of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama These conditions require immediate action and a trip to the ER Severe chest pain or shortness of breath. Although heart attacks are uncommon under the age of fifty, chest pain demands immediate attention. Asthma attacks can also be serious and need immediate attention.  Head, neck and spinal injuries. Fractures of the neck, skull, back or pelvis, or any head injury that results in a loss of consciousness can be life threatening. Call 911 for an ambulance and do not move the victim. A laceration requiring sutures. Any major gash or cut should be stitched as soon as possible. After 24 hours the area may not be sutured due to exposure to germs. If you're undecided as to whether the cut needs sutures, it probably does. Bites and Stings. Snakebites and spider bites can be very serious and sometimes deadly. If bitten by a poisonous snake or a poisonous spider, seek medical attention immediately. If possible, take the snake or spider with you (after killing it of course) to help identify whether it's poisonous. You should familiarize yourself with the markings of a Black Widow and a Brown Recluse to help you identify them.
Bee
stings or ant bites are not usually serious; localized pain
around the bite or sting is not unusual. But
if you suffer other symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting or difficulty
breathing, seek medical attention immediately. |
||
|
TIPS YOU CAN USE
Call 911 If your condition is obviously an urgent one, call 911 or an ambulance. If you've suffered a heart attack or serious injury, the paramedics or ambulance team can start treatment on the way to the ER. Consult Your Physician First For non emergency situations, call your physician if you're not sure what you should do. Your doctor usually can determine if you should go the ER by your description of your medical problem or injury over the phone. Emergency Patient Information Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama is the sponsor of the Emergency Patient Information (EPI) program. It allows you to store emergency contact and medical information online and make it available to rescuers if you are involved in a life-threatening situation. EPI begins with a simple online form. You can record the vital information you want people to know if there's an emergency – who to call, the names of your doctors, your medical conditions, the medicines you take, your allergies, past surgeries, and your immunizations. Go to www.bcbsal.org and click on the Emergency Patient Information section. Going on Vacation? Don't forget when you travel, you are still covered with medical benefits provided by Jim Walter Resources. Log on to the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama web site www.bcbsal.org and click on the National Doctor Finder section to locate a doctor or pharmacy in the area you will be traveling. You can also call 1-800-810-2583 for information about the nearest PPO provider. Your Blue Cross Blue Shield health plan has participating providers in all 50 states. |
