Dangers of Delaying Care: How to Avoid the Emergency Room

We've all been there – you tweaked your knee crossing the street, you've been getting lightheaded recently or there's that pain in your shoulder that just won't go away. You could go see your doctor or visit urgent care, but where will you find the time, and how would you afford the copay?

So you delay your care, or you forego it altogether.

According to EvergreenHealth Executive Medical Director of Emergency Medicine Dr. Kevin Hanson, that is a really bad idea.

The Dangers of Delaying Care: An EvergreenHealth Series

According to leading health policy research firm KFF, about a third of American adults say they have skipped or postponed necessary healthcare in the last 12 months, including 75 percent of uninsured adults under age 65.

To examine this issue, EvergreenHealth is launching a three-part blog-and-podcast series called "The Dangers of Delaying Care." We'll bring you perspectives from several different providers and our financial services team to help you understand all your options to get the care you need.

• Part 1: In this first installment, Dr. Kevin Hanson shares simple ways to stay on top of your health and prevent minor conditions or injuries from becoming more serious.
• Part 2: In "Dangers of Delaying Care: Seek Care Sooner to Avoid Complications," Dr. Avi Goodman provides additional guidance on the risks of delaying care from an orthopedic perspective.
• Part 3: "Dangers of Delaying Care: How We Help You Afford Care" features EvergreenHealth Financial Assistance team members who explain options that may help make health care more affordable.

Primary Care: Your Best Way to Avoid the Emergency Room

According to the KFF study, the most common reasons why people delay care are because they "feel fine," don't have the time for an appointment or don't think they can afford it. But whatever the reason, delaying care is an easy way to make a manageable condition much more serious.

"The best example I can give of why you shouldn't delay care is hypertension," Dr. Hanson said. "It's pretty manageable with diet, exercise, lifestyle changes and medications and monitoring from your primary care provider (PCP). But if you delay care, you can run into the long-term side effects like a stroke, kidney damage, heart attack or worse."

Let's address these top three reasons why people delay care:

• "I don't have time for an appointment:" It's easy to schedule a telehealth appointment with your PCP or to simply head to an urgent care. These doctor visits are easy, convenient and offer almost all the same services as an in-person appointment. Urgent cares and telehealth options also usually have much shorter wait times and your telehealth provider can schedule labs and imaging for a time that's convenient for you, if necessary.
  "A lot of people say they're too busy to get care," Dr. Hanson said. "But if you delay care or avoid it altogether, that complication will happen anyway and instead of a 30-minute check-up it's a stroke and chronic disease care. Your health is worth taking time for."
• "I can't afford care:" In the third installment of the Dangers of Delaying Care series, we'll offer information about the EvergreenHealth Financial Assistance program. We offer cost estimates for all procedures, financial counselors who can work with your insurance and help you understand your bill and full and partial charity care for those who qualify.
  "If you're saying, 'I don't want to spend money on a copay' while your condition is manageable," Dr. Hanson said, "you'll spend ten times that down the road when your unmanaged high blood pressure leads to heart disease. Think of that PCP appointment copay as an investment in your body. You only get one. You have to invest in it and take care of it.
• "I feel fine:" Two points here:
  • If you have a chronic condition like diabetes or high blood pressure, it's critically important to have a primary care provider to keep track of your health. Reporting any health changes to them and keeping regular check-ups is the best way to keep your condition manageable and stay out of the emergency room.
  • Even if you don't have any chronic conditions, you should still have a primary care provider. They can monitor your health as you age, stay on top of important scans, blood tests and immunizations, and answer any questions you have.

"Primary care providers are like the quarterbacks of your healthcare," Dr. Hanson said. "They'll monitor your conditions better than anyone else, answer questions, get referrals to specialists, whatever you need."

Dr. Hanson said staying out of the ER also comes down to common sense: "Don't smoke. Moderate your alcohol use. Make sure you're getting outside and exercising. Get enough sleep. Cut down on stress. Make sure the food you're eating is good for you and you're not eating ultra-processed fast food all the time. Just take care of yourself and get a primary care provider."

In fact, if you arrive at an EvergreenHealth Emergency Department for care and don't have a primary care provider, the team will make an appointment with one for you before you leave. That is how important primary care providers are to your health.

Dr. Hanson's final message is simple. "Let's keep the problems as simple as we can. If we let them progress to the point where we have to do more interventions and more aggressive treatments, that's not good for you or your family. We would much rather take care of patients early in their disease process so we can minimize negative outcomes for everybody."

To learn more from Dr. Hanson, you can listen to the full Check-Up Chat podcast episode or click to watch the vodcast.

You can also learn more about EvergreenHealth Emergency Care by visiting our website.