The Transportation Barrier to Getting Medical Care
Recently, Mohamad Taha, MD, Medical Director of Cardiology at Suburban Community Hospital, and Interventional Cardiology at Roxborough Memorial Hospital had a patient who had to walk 12 miles to his appointment at Suburban Community Hospital because he could not find transportation.
Dr. Taha’s patient started his journey at 9am and arrived at Suburban Community Hospital at 2:35pm. Unfortunately, the patient’s phone battery died around 12:30pm and had to navigate his way to Dr. Taha’s office by stopping people and asking them for directions.
When the patient arrived safely, he explained to the office staff about his situation and Dr. Taha was able to see him right away. After his follow-up cardiac appointment, the patient was going to walk home. Luckily, Sakia, the office manager, offered to drive him home. However, the patient did not want to burden the staff.
The staff was able to find an alternative solution that would make the patient feel more comfortable. They secured him a paid Uber ride to his home with the help of the office staff.
Luckily for Dr. Taha’s patient, he was able to see Dr. Taha and everything worked out.
Missed appointments can be very serious, as patient concerns, questions or updates to a patient’s health status can go unaddressed. Situations like this would are particularly worrisome for patients with cardiac concerns, diabetes, and other chronic diseases that require ongoing active care.
Often, doctors and office staff may not even realize that their patients have problems with transportation since patients can be embarrassed or otherwise hesitant to raise the issue.
Thankfully, in Dr. Taha’s patient’s situation, the office staff was willing to help and assist the patient in finding transportation back home.
If you are in the Montgomery County or Philadelphia area and in need of a cardiologist, please contact Mohamad Taha, MD, at (610) 290-4270 to schedule an appointment.