Canada. It’s generally easy and free (no direct cost to me). I try to avoid having to go to my doctor whenever possible and I live with a nurse (and my doc knows that). Usually when I send him a message, either by email or by calling, he’ll have a follow up question or two (sometimes none) then decide a course of action and move right to implementation. Sometimes that’s sending a script to my local pharmacy, sometimes that’s a referral to a specialist. Who knows? I haven’t seen the guy in years. But if he made the request for me to go in, I would without hesitation.
I know my experience isn’t the same as others, since my doctor and my spouse have actually worked together; but still. It’s all free and there’s usually minimal waiting.
The only significant delays I’ve heard of in Canadian healthcare relate to major procedures when the issue is non-critical. Like getting an MRI as a precaution, to make sure things aren’t messed up or something (IDK what MRIs are used to diagnose, I am not a doctor).
Everything is triaged, so if you’re not actively dying from a thing, and you need a big piece of equipment to scan you to figure something out, you’re going to be waiting a while.
Canada. It’s generally easy and free (no direct cost to me). I try to avoid having to go to my doctor whenever possible and I live with a nurse (and my doc knows that). Usually when I send him a message, either by email or by calling, he’ll have a follow up question or two (sometimes none) then decide a course of action and move right to implementation. Sometimes that’s sending a script to my local pharmacy, sometimes that’s a referral to a specialist. Who knows? I haven’t seen the guy in years. But if he made the request for me to go in, I would without hesitation.
I know my experience isn’t the same as others, since my doctor and my spouse have actually worked together; but still. It’s all free and there’s usually minimal waiting.
The only significant delays I’ve heard of in Canadian healthcare relate to major procedures when the issue is non-critical. Like getting an MRI as a precaution, to make sure things aren’t messed up or something (IDK what MRIs are used to diagnose, I am not a doctor).
Everything is triaged, so if you’re not actively dying from a thing, and you need a big piece of equipment to scan you to figure something out, you’re going to be waiting a while.
You can do like I just did a week or two ago and pay to get an MRI in Buffalo, it cuts the waiting time down to like 2-10 days.