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Post by nylefty on Jan 16, 2016 12:30:39 GMT -5
You'd be surprised how many urgent care centers are actually providing primary care. They're convenient and you don't have to wait a few weeks to get an appointment. I would be very surprised since insurance views urgent care as an emergency room visit. I have to believe that urgent care clinics want to remain that way. Taking on the masses reduces their ability to treat walk-in patients. That hasn't been my experience. I've visited an urgent care clinic several times after suffering tick bites and my insurance coverage listed the visits as normal doctor visits, billed by the individual doctors.
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Post by comnkd on Jan 16, 2016 13:12:56 GMT -5
I second that, NYlefty. Our family has made numerous trips to Urgent Care centers both locally and while vacationing. Not once had they been charged like an ER visit.
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Post by mnkdmorelong on Jan 16, 2016 13:41:22 GMT -5
I would be very surprised since insurance views urgent care as an emergency room visit. I have to believe that urgent care clinics want to remain that way. Taking on the masses reduces their ability to treat walk-in patients. That hasn't been my experience. I've visited an urgent care clinic several times after suffering tick bites and my insurance coverage listed the visits as normal doctor visits, billed by the individual doctors. www.urgentcarelocations.com/urgent-care-101/faq/why-is-my-copay-higher-for-urgent-care-centersMy experience has been different. I have been charged ER co-pays.
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Post by bioexec25 on Jan 16, 2016 13:52:49 GMT -5
I believe the strategy is beyond acute care to include longer term mgmt of the disease. This would include education, dosing and monitoring. If the lobbyist stay away it will ultimately show less basil and true reversal or avoidance of complications.
Therefore, this should change the calculus of Insurance as it ultimately shows and measures cost reduction through a breakthrough therapy of Afrezza. I'm sure not overnight but that's where I thought they were going with this concept.
Even with limited success this would also light a fire under the snail endo & pc. It takes a spark, actually a large bonfire to signal the kind of change we need to drive Afrezza & TS forward.
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Post by mnkdmorelong on Jan 16, 2016 14:06:47 GMT -5
I believe the strategy is beyond acute care to include longer term mgmt of the disease. This would include education, dosing and monitoring. If the lobbyist stay away it will ultimately show less or no basil and true reversal or avoidance of complications. Therefore, this should change the calculus of Insurance as it ultimately shows and measures cost reduction through a breakthrough therapy of Afrezza. I'm sure not overnight but that's where I thought they were going with this concept. Even with limited success this would also light a fire under the snail endo & pc. It takes a spark, actually a large bonfire to signal the kind of change we need to drive Afrezza & TS forward. Agreed. The clinical trial that is needed is that with Afrezza, basal insulin usage goes down as does HbA1c. This would catch the eye of insurance and the docs. We have anecdotal evidence of this; this needs to be expanded to be proven as a known reality. It does not need to be a MNKD study with the FDA involved. It can be a group of large practices doing the study. Why would they do this? They want their names on the game changing paper.
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Post by comnkd on Jan 16, 2016 17:36:06 GMT -5
The article you reference contradicts your experience. Quoted from the link you provided: "Cost Compared to Emergency Room Though urgent care is more expensive than visiting a primary care physician, it's important to note that it is cheaper than going to the emergency room. This is because the emergency room has a much larger overhead. They need to staff more robustly including specialists, surgeons and nurses, as well as house and maintain specialized equipment for life threatening diagnosis and treatment. Not only is the copay for visiting urgent care lower than visiting the emergency room, the overall cost of diagnostics and procedures are also lower. Because of the lower cost, if it is possible to visit urgent care, it is suggested in most cases..." Further, I pulled the following from my plan provider's site (Anthem BlueCross BlueShield): www.anthem.com/health-insurance/provider-directory/searchcriteria?brand=abcbs&provtype=urgentcare"Urgent Care and other ER alternatives Consider using these options when you need health care quickly, but can’t see your usual doctor. These clinics are often open nights and weekends, and cost about the same as a doctor visit. Find out more about Urgent Care and other ER alternatives."
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Post by mnkdmorelong on Jan 16, 2016 17:41:29 GMT -5
The article you reference contradicts your experience. Quoted from the link you provided: "Cost Compared to Emergency Room Though urgent care is more expensive than visiting a primary care physician, it's important to note that it is cheaper than going to the emergency room. This is because the emergency room has a much larger overhead. They need to staff more robustly including specialists, surgeons and nurses, as well as house and maintain specialized equipment for life threatening diagnosis and treatment. Not only is the copay for visiting urgent care lower than visiting the emergency room, the overall cost of diagnostics and procedures are also lower. Because of the lower cost, if it is possible to visit urgent care, it is suggested in most cases..." Further, I pulled the following from my plan provider's site (Anthem BlueCross BlueShield): www.anthem.com/health-insurance/provider-directory/searchcriteria?brand=abcbs&provtype=urgentcare"Urgent Care and other ER alternatives Consider using these options when you need health care quickly, but can’t see your usual doctor. These clinics are often open nights and weekends, and cost about the same as a doctor visit. Find out more about Urgent Care and other ER alternatives." I think it depends on the insurance plan. I paid an ER co-pay in my most recent visit. The article did say that urgent care cost more than PCP.
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Post by dreamboatcruise on Jan 16, 2016 19:05:57 GMT -5
I would be very surprised since insurance views urgent care as an emergency room visit. I have to believe that urgent care clinics want to remain that way. Taking on the masses reduces their ability to treat walk-in patients. That hasn't been my experience. I've visited an urgent care clinic several times after suffering tick bites and my insurance coverage listed the visits as normal doctor visits, billed by the individual doctors. With the insurance I am on, urgent care is actually a middle tier. I could go to any ER and the insurance would pay it (as long as it is reasonably deemed necessary). For urgent care I can only go to a particular urgent care center that is contracted under my physician group. When I go to urgent care my co-pay is $50 rather than $20 for normal doctor visit. If I were to go to another urgent care I'd be stuck with the bill myself... if the one I can go to is closed but I know of another that is still open, my insurance would tell me to go to the ER instead... and there I have $200 co-pay. Maybe there are some insurance that treat urgent care centers as ER, but I think the norm now days is that they have to be "in network" for PPO and within your primary care physician group for HMO.
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Post by 4allthemarbles on Jan 16, 2016 21:06:44 GMT -5
I would be very surprised since insurance views urgent care as an emergency room visit. I have to believe that urgent care clinics want to remain that way. Taking on the masses reduces their ability to treat walk-in patients. That hasn't been my experience. I've visited an urgent care clinic several times after suffering tick bites and my insurance coverage listed the visits as normal doctor visits, billed by the individual doctors. This has been my experience with two different health insurance providers. It seems like the urgent care practices are becoming more common place that I have seen on the East Coast. The care provided was fine as well. These places are also helpful for people who relocate often, until they find a long term Doctor.
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Post by bill on Jan 16, 2016 22:13:41 GMT -5
Last year I read a number of ex-U.S. drug approval processes and, without even perusing peppy's link, I can state with 100% certainty that India's drug approval agency has the option of waiving the normal approval procedures for FDA-approved medicines and devices if they choose. Later, I'll post a link to a site that lists the drug approval agencies in every country on the planet. I'll put it in the resources folder. If it is possible to receive approval in India, MannKind should be working diligently to find a partnership for that region. @kastanes Great idea, but if MNKD's gong to look at India they might as well look at China as well. Wouldn't it be a hoot if they were able to secure India and China regional partnerships with some up-front cash and back-end royalty payments.
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