On the day you were injured, you didn't get out of bed being able to predict the future. Injury changes our lives - rarely for the better. We all want the disruption that injury throws at our busy lives to be as short as possible. We want to recover back to normal, in the quickest possible time. Our families, income, sports and hobbies depend on a speedy recovery.
Trauma services offered by public sector are aimed at treating a population, based on available resources. Resources are often limited by funding or high demand. The treatment offered is "acceptable" by all measured standards, but is not always "individual focussed", nor "best practice" in every case.
Believe it or not, medicine is a service industry! This means the "customer" or patient, does have a say in their treatment. As the adage goes "the customer is always right". OrthoRAPID gives you your say into the timing and location of your treatment and an option to have personalised care by a specialist in orthopaedic trauma surgery.
Why Private Care?
I am certainly not disparaging the great services public hospitals provide to patients. All surgeons trained in public sector and many, including myself, have given decades of public service in return.
However, many people view private sector as a more suitable alternative for them and their families.
Some families choose to send their children to private schools for the advantage of smaller class sizes, more experienced teachers and specialty subjects or sports.
Some people choose to have their car serviced by a private trusted expert experienced mechanic, rather than a generic service by the local dealer.
Private health insurance IS expensive, but many Australians make the choice to purchase it and expect something in return. Injury happens in a split-second - access to services and return for your insurance investment should be just as rapid.
Is Private Trauma Care Difficult to Access?
Private health insurance IS expensive, but many Australians make the choice to purchase it. The purchase of private health insurance rarely comes with a manual. Negotiating what seems like a minefield when you are injured, can be frustrating, particularly in regional areas of Australia.
OrthoRAPID is an alternative option to make your access and journey so much easier. You don't even need a manual. All it takes is a single phone call and we co-ordinate the rest for you.
The Problem
It has been the norm and the collective mindset that the place you go if you are injured is "the nearest public hospital emergency department". If you have private health insurance, wouldn't you want to go directly to a private hospital?
The problem with this is that you are often sucked into the public system. Public hospitals have a financial incentive to admit as many privately insured patients as they can. Some even have a "quota" they have to meet. This clogs up hospital beds and restricts access for public patients, particularly for elective surgery. Public hospitals have an obligation to teach junior doctors, which means often treatment and surgery will be performed, in part, or sometimes entirely, by a doctor-in-training. Subsequently, follow-up often occurs in busy outpatient clinics, where long waits are expected and accepted.
Private patients do not need to keep falling into public hospitals. Private patients have the right to say "I have private insurance, I know what I am entitled to".
Private patients have the right to request their own private doctor / surgeon and a private hospital for their treatment. Unfortunately these valid requests are not always met by public hospitals. Your request to have OrthoRAPID manage your injury will always be met with a considered "yes".
The Solution
OrthoRAPID is an alternative to the long-held belief that acute trauma care can only be delivered in public hospitals. OrthoRAPID understands that emergency departments are extremely busy with very unwell and high acuity patients - the less acuity patients, such as those with limb injuries, tend to wait longer in waiting rooms and tend to be seen by more junior doctors. Assessment is not always made by an expert. Injuries may get, follow-up delayed and your injury journey may be extended unnecessarily.
OrthoRAPID offers an alternative. OrthoRAPID can save you or family members hours of waiting in busy emergency department waiting rooms, by co-ordinating rapid first aid and/or admission to a private hospital bed. OrthoRAPID gives you the private trauma care you once thought you might need when you signed up for your private health insurance. OrthoRAPID is the solution to returning you to work and sports and life, without delay and with excellent outcomes.
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