I want/need some immediate results on chest x-ray, lungs, etc. - Should I go to ER?

[TheNinja]

So I've been having lung/chest/sternum/rib pain for maybe 2 weeks. Just thought it was heartburn or infection or something. I'm not coughing or anything though. I just tired with a sore/heavy/itchy chest. Now it's gotten quite a bit worse.

Anywho, I leave on vacation in 3 days and don't have a primary care doctor b/c I switched insurance. I have a $150 co-pay for ER. Can/Should I go into the ER and they'll take my blood tests and chest xray, EKG, etc.? I feel like by the time I find a doctor, they order tests, x-rays, results, etc. it's going to take forever and it's still going to cost the same b/c I have a $20 co-pay for every appointment I go to.

Should I just go to the ER? I mean if they can do it all in a few hours with the $150 then it's not a bad deal.

 

[Hitman81]

If you're sure your co-pay is only $150, but I would also make a slightly bigger deal of it. I took my wife to the ER one day thinking we only had a co-pay but then they deemed it not an emergency and gave us a bill for $1100.

 

[Rob Battisti]

if the doctor wrote you a script for it it should only take about 20 minutes. Have you even seen a doctor?

 

[TheNinja]

I guess urgent care would be an option but the urgent care is not going to be setup with specialists and x-ray and CT (if needed) and all that stuff. A hospital ER will. The urgent care is there to help you if you don't have a doc or get hurt/sick after hours and need someone to write you a prescription IMO. I'm faily sure if I went to urgent care with my desribed symptons they'd send me to ER for chest x-ray.
I have a feeling it will cost me more than $150 though. Apparently that's just my co-pay to get in. After that I cover 10% until I reach my out of pocket max for the year. Fortunately (or unfortunately) I've had other family costs this year and am probably near my max anyway.

 

[theocean]

its probably the only sure way to get the results in a day or two...

 

[SevenSamurai]

just go. -or go to are urgent care -they send all of their films to a specialist to double check their diagnosis anyways