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Post by mom26 on Feb 5, 2018 14:57:21 GMT
a specific hospital to be taken to? DH may be having a pancreatitis attack and doesn't think he can handle the stops/starts if I drive him. However, he is adamant to be taken to a specific hospital. TIA *UPDATE*: About 2 minutes after I posted this, I did a virtual smack to the head because it occurred to me that this was NOT a lights and sirens kind of situation, even if DH imagined it was. (I love the man to death, but he can bring 'man-cold' drama to a whole new level sometimes) and he would still get stops and starts with an ambulance. In all fairness to DH, though, he does have a handicap and in his condition he was completely unable to walk. Even I thought an ambulance may be the way to go. However, realizing it wouldn't accomplish what he thought it would, I improvised and got my 6'2" neighbor and a wheeled office chair. With that help, I got DH in the car and to the ER. (Note to katiekaty and mcscrapper - you guys were so right! Tons faster, I'm sure.) Now, nine hours later we are back home with a diagnosis of gastritis. And the really hard part begins tomorrow. All the foods he was told to limit or avoid after the pancreatitis attack but didn't? Well, it's double-down time on those restrictions. I expect a hard wall of resistance just like before. *sigh* Again, thank you all so much for your posts to my question. I haven't read them all yet, but I've learned stuff from what I have. You ladies rock the house. |
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Post by scrapsotime on Feb 5, 2018 14:58:27 GMT
We always have been able to here.
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Post by papersilly on Feb 5, 2018 15:01:55 GMT
MIL asked when she called to have FIL taken again. They said if they were not very busy, they probably could but since we are in a densely populated area and you know Los Angeles traffic, they did not.
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Post by mcscrapper on Feb 5, 2018 15:07:13 GMT
Yes you can request a hospital. Ambulances still have to stop at lights and stop signs unless they are "running code" which is usually limited to when the crew is performing life-saving measures.
Edit: You can request in this area. In some larger cities you might not be able to request a hospital.
Honestly, he would most likely get seen just as quickly if you were to drive him. Just because you arrive by ambulance does not guarantee a bed in the ER. He may still have to come to the lobby for triage.
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Post by katlaw on Feb 5, 2018 15:11:21 GMT
Where I live no. Only if the patients symptoms can only be taken care of at a specific hospital
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Post by annabella on Feb 5, 2018 15:13:41 GMT
Yes if that hospital is available to take incoming patients.
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Post by myshelly on Feb 5, 2018 15:20:18 GMT
The last time a family member of mine called an ambulance - no, they did not take her to the hospital she requested.
Here there are a lot of factors - not crossing county lines in some cases, which hospitals that ambulance is contracted with (if it's not a county ambulance), which hospitals are designated for the type/level of emergency, traffic, which hospitals are closest, and others.
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Post by ToniW on Feb 5, 2018 15:24:45 GMT
It depends. Some hospitals can be diverted if they are unable to for what ever reason. We were able request and they did take my mom to where we wanted except for the last time that her condition was too serious so they took her to the nearest hospital.
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Post by mikklynn on Feb 5, 2018 15:35:36 GMT
I have been able to request transport to the U of M here, even though it's not the closest hospital. I do tell them DH's a cancer and a heart patient, so I don't know if that helps or not.
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used2scrap
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,147 
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Post by used2scrap on Feb 5, 2018 15:54:30 GMT
Answer is probably that it depends. I was surprised when spouse needed an ambulance (anaphylactic shock) that the county ambulance gave the option for him to go on base to the military hospital.
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Post by Tammiem2pnc1 on Feb 5, 2018 16:08:36 GMT
We are able to for the most part unless it's full and patients are being diverted to another hospital.
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mallie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,253
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Post by mallie on Feb 5, 2018 16:25:58 GMT
I know that here, you get what you get, for whatever reason.
One of my coworkers is now in possession of a very large ER bill because the hospital they took her to is not in network.
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smcast
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,509
Location: MN
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Post by smcast on Feb 5, 2018 16:43:51 GMT
Insurance might not cover if not nearest available.
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Post by janniepea on Feb 5, 2018 16:48:04 GMT
When I broke my leg recently I was asked which hospital I needed to go to based on my insurance.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Aug 18, 2025 21:42:09 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2018 16:54:07 GMT
We have always been asked which hospital we wanted to go to, so yes for us. My daughter has had many an ambulance ride. Now I know where my daughter works, if it’s a gunshot wound, they will not accept those patients at the local hospital. They have to go to the bigger city hospital 20+ minutes away. They airlift if necessary.
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flute4peace
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,757
Jul 3, 2014 14:38:35 GMT
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Post by flute4peace on Feb 5, 2018 17:50:52 GMT
Here, you can unless they don't think you'll make it to your choice and there's a closer hospital.
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Post by katiekaty on Feb 5, 2018 18:24:58 GMT
You can call an ambulance to be transported to a hospital non-emergently. However, for insurance to cover it you will need medical verification from your doctor that he cannot be transported safely any other way or your insurance will not cover this. Those conditions include not being able to transfer himself, requiring oxygen and supervision during transport, medical necessity due to medical condition(wounds, equipment, etc.), behaviors requiring restraints, etc. Not being able to tolerate starts and stops will not fall under these. A non emergent ambulance transport has to follow all traffic laws also. Patients going to hospitals for non-emergent reasons are also triaged and seen in the same way as patients who walk in to the ER. An ambulance ride in does not guarantee you a hop skip and jump to the front of the line! Best thing to do is just drive him there.
And I don't mean to be snarky or anything, but by the time you have asked this on here and read responses, he probably could have been driven to the hospital and registered in the ER!
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Post by alsomsknit on Feb 5, 2018 18:25:48 GMT
We are able to request hospitals. The preferred hospital is 40 minutes away & across state lines.
If it's critical, they will take the patient to the local hospital. Usually, the patient/family asks to be transferred to the other hospital when stablized.
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Post by pierkiss on Feb 5, 2018 18:34:33 GMT
The one and only time I rode in an ambulance my hospital request was denied, as they said we were much closer to one vs the one I wanted. In my case it wasn’t a big deal, both were good. It’s just the one they took me to was much further from my house than the one I wanted which was down the street.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Aug 18, 2025 21:42:09 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2018 18:38:27 GMT
Hope your DH made it to the hospital of his choice and is doing well.
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Post by melanell on Feb 5, 2018 18:47:02 GMT
Where I live, yes, to a point. We have some hospitals clustered close together and others that are more remote. If you live near the clustered ones, then you can choose. But if you live near a remote one, they will want you to go the closest hospital, provided that hospital has the means of caring for your issue.
I hope your husband is doing better! Hugs!
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eleezybeth
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,784
Jun 28, 2014 20:42:01 GMT
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Post by eleezybeth on Feb 5, 2018 19:21:42 GMT
Is anybody else just sitting here going... Mmmm, hmmm this is my DH too. Sitting there all miserable and making demands about hospitals and still has the balls to say something about my driving. Typical.    Hope he got in OP! |
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Post by freecharlie on Feb 5, 2018 22:43:53 GMT
No, but the other hospitals are in a different county and I live in a rural area. They are building a second in this county. It will be interesting to see if you can choose then.
Th works for the hospital system in the next county, so to be in network, I have to go there.
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iowgirl
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,539
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Post by iowgirl on Feb 5, 2018 23:16:26 GMT
Is anybody else just sitting here going... Mmmm, hmmm this is my DH too. Sitting there all miserable and making demands about hospitals and still has the balls to say something about my driving. Typical. Nope... He usually drives himself in.. LOL My DH is a DIY'er ... he came home with a cut on his finger and asked me if I thought he could super glue it... ... I could see he had cut a tendon. It wasn't cut in two - but it was cut. He had me call the clinic to see if his favorite semi-retired doc was there, and he was - so he went in and had a couple stitches put it, and talked him out of billing it as tendon repair, because that cost WAY more. The tendon stitch dissolved, but he pulled the outside stitches out himself when the wound closed. The last set of stitches he had, he told the (new) doc he would just pull them out himself, if it healed ok... she just said "OK, but I didn't hear that" .. She was going to put some Novocaine in his hand to numb it and he told her to just stitch it up without- the Novocaine hurt more than the stitches. I hope your DH is doing better mom26 ! I would have just tossed him in the car and told him to shut it.  |
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Post by prapea on Feb 5, 2018 23:19:16 GMT
How your DH is ok. Isn’t pancreatitis attack serious?
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Aug 18, 2025 21:42:09 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2018 23:19:59 GMT
You can call an ambulance to be transported to a hospital non-emergently. However, for insurance to cover it you will need medical verification from your doctor that he cannot be transported safely any other way or your insurance will not cover this. Those conditions include not being able to transfer himself, requiring oxygen and supervision during transport, medical necessity due to medical condition(wounds, equipment, etc.), behaviors requiring restraints, etc. Not being able to tolerate starts and stops will not fall under these. I guess I am confused by this. We have never, ever called our insurance before calling for an ambulance, and all ambulance rides were covered by insurance. I didn't have time to call insurance first. We got an ambulance there. Never a problem. OP, hope your hubby is doing well! |
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perumbula
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,439
Location: Idaho
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Post by perumbula on Feb 5, 2018 23:41:26 GMT
I know that here, you get what you get, for whatever reason. One of my coworkers is now in possession of a very large ER bill because the hospital they took her to is not in network. She should call her insurance company and dispute the decision. She may have to take it higher than the first person, but most insurance companies will make allowances for emergencies especially when the patient had no choice in where they went. When I had that happen to me, I was able to get the insurance company to treat it as in network with one phone call and the first person I talked to. But I did have to ask. OP: I hope your husband got the care he needed. I'm sorry he's sick.  |
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Post by freecharlie on Feb 5, 2018 23:44:23 GMT
You can call an ambulance to be transported to a hospital non-emergently. However, for insurance to cover it you will need medical verification from your doctor that he cannot be transported safely any other way or your insurance will not cover this. Those conditions include not being able to transfer himself, requiring oxygen and supervision during transport, medical necessity due to medical condition(wounds, equipment, etc.), behaviors requiring restraints, etc. Not being able to tolerate starts and stops will not fall under these. I guess I am confused by this. We have never, ever called our insurance before calling for an ambulance, and all ambulance rides were covered by insurance. I didn't have time to call insurance first. We got an ambulance there. Never a problem. OP, hope your hubby is doing well! not all plans cover ambulance rides and some only cover if you are admitted or have a life threatening injury or something |
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Post by mom26 on Feb 6, 2018 1:09:37 GMT
BTT for Update
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Post by mom26 on Feb 6, 2018 1:12:27 GMT
How your DH is ok. Isn’t pancreatitis attack serious? It can be fatal in some rare cases. He was in the hospital for 2 weeks and in ICU for one of those weeks when he had pancreatitis before. I'm sooooo relieved it turned out to not be that this time. |
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