Another experience w private health care today as I found myself spending the morning at a private clinic, doing some follow up tests to a specialist appt I had a few weeks ago.
This place is like a woman-processing plant! Women everywhere, moving efficiently through various rooms undergoing various female-related tests and screenings administered by a host of mostly female clinicians.
One pays up front--there seems to be some sort of discount for those without coverage (either that, or the magic words I uttered at the cashier's desk as instructed by my doctor was a special incantation specific to that particular medical practitioner)--and then, after a very short wait, one is ushered into the first testing room.
This place is like a woman-processing plant! Women everywhere, moving efficiently through various rooms undergoing various female-related tests and screenings administered by a host of mostly female clinicians.
One pays up front--there seems to be some sort of discount for those without coverage (either that, or the magic words I uttered at the cashier's desk as instructed by my doctor was a special incantation specific to that particular medical practitioner)--and then, after a very short wait, one is ushered into the first testing room.
I needed three screenings today; all were in the same building, each in its own tiny room with its own specialized technician. The place -- while more or less clean, but not physically fancy -- is high-tech; my various womanly parts were scanned in great detail from top to bottom during my assorted tests, and the machinery all looked shiny and new!
Free wifi is available throughout the building; I was able to do a little work on an online course I am taking while waiting for one of the tests.
Once all three tests were complete, I was free to go, with instructions to return on Monday afternoon to pick up the results.
Free wifi is available throughout the building; I was able to do a little work on an online course I am taking while waiting for one of the tests.
Once all three tests were complete, I was free to go, with instructions to return on Monday afternoon to pick up the results.
People seem to be very much in charge of themselves here-- it's up to me to make my own follow-up appointment with my specialist, and take the results of my various tests to her. On the one hand, it's a bit intimidating, authoring one's own healthcare story, especially as a temporary foreigner navigating a system in a strange country. On the other hand, it feels rather empowering to have all one's personal information in hand. Even when I return to Canada, I will not need to worry about people forwarding test results etc., or things being overlooked or lost. I can just hand over my records (or copies thereof!) to my doctor.
The price for this private testing, and appointments with private doctors here, are relatively inexpensive, and as I wrote in a previous blog post, it is tempting to hanker after such an affordable and efficient system. However, I must remind myself that I am only tempted because I have the luxury--as a member of the middle class--to be able to afford a modestly priced private system. The sacrifices I make here to get quick and detailed private healthcare are minimal. The same would not be not be true for people living in poverty here in Argentina, or at home in North America.
The price for this private testing, and appointments with private doctors here, are relatively inexpensive, and as I wrote in a previous blog post, it is tempting to hanker after such an affordable and efficient system. However, I must remind myself that I am only tempted because I have the luxury--as a member of the middle class--to be able to afford a modestly priced private system. The sacrifices I make here to get quick and detailed private healthcare are minimal. The same would not be not be true for people living in poverty here in Argentina, or at home in North America.
Imperfect as our public system in Canada may be, universal health care is still, I believe, an ideal to be striven for, and rather than replacing it with private care or a dual system, we must instead work harder at finding creative solutions to the existing challenges of public health care.