Differences between the Danish and the US healthcare system/practice

After a round of crossfit Monday morning I got a crick in my neck and couldn’t move my head properly without it hurting a lot. That same evening I got a 30 min massage and the massage therapist suggested that I went to a chiropractor to get it fixed. So I did that the following day. As I saw a chiropractor in Denmark about half a year ago, this gave me an opportunity to compare the two treatments. (Laura will love this!)

The basic treatment/procedure was the same; they spent 3-5 min on the actual diagnostics and then max 2-3 min on the actual treatment. However there were a few differences:

1)  Time:     In DK I was out the door and had paid in 15 min. In US it took 1 hour and 20 min

2)  Price:     DK: 284DKK, US: 620DKK (after 30% discount, because I told them that I would pay myself and that I was not insured (wtf!?))

So how come it took one hour and 20 min? Here’s my estimate of how the time was spent:

	Minutes	Activity
	5	Waiting
	10	Intro from assistant to the clinic and tour of the facility (?!) + stories on how chiropractic had help her
	5	Watching a video on what chiropractic is
	5	Waiting
	5	Dialogue with the chiropractor about my health condition and neck problem
	5	Change to robe and wait for chiropractor to return
	5	Actual diagnostics
	5	Heat scan of back/spine, confirming what he had just found out
	5	Waiting for the assistant to apply ultra sound (pain relief)
	10	Assistant applying ultrasound to my neck
	5	Waiting for the chiropractor
	5	Treatment
	5	Getting dressed and chatting with the chiropractor
	5	Receptionist booking new time and not knowing how to add two numbers on a calculator (!?)
Total	80

For my visit in Denmark the chiropractor was alone and his booking slots were 15 min. also he took care of payments as well as the booking himself.  In the US there were 2 receptionists to do that (servicing five or so chiropractor, so maybe that’s ok).  I fully appreciate the good service and the very broad range of services that the US clinic offered, but not I have a better understanding of why the US system is so expensive... the insurance companies are paying...

From the nice video they made me watch 

Cultural input - Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

Yesterday afternoon we found out about a Big Band playing at the concert hall near us, so we bought tickets and went out to have dinner before the show started. We went to a nice Indian restaurant where we had some delicious food. 

On the way to the Orchestra Hall there was a demonstration..

The Big Bad Voodoo Daddy in the Orchestra Hall

Orgasm Inc.

Friday I studied at the library with Nancy and had a "lecture and lunch" with Karen

Friday was the last day of the Public Health Film Festival, usually the theme is always more fun the last day (sex - woohooo ).. 

I went there with Michael, we loaded up on freebies (cookies, biscuits, muffins, coffee, popcorn) before we entered the ‘cinema’ a saw some great films. The first film was interesting – and very provoking. It was about FSD or Female Sexual Dysfunction: a disease invented by the pharmaceutical industry so that they can make more money.  

The ones after that were two vintage Sexual Education Videos, one from the 50ies and one from the 70ies.. Quite funny!

Afterwards we went out with some people from Public Health

OMG

It's Public Health film festival this week. 

I volunteered at the festival and
was  given a very important job

Yesterday Michael and I saw a very interesting film about the HIV/AIDS epidemic in San Fransisco in the 80ies and 90ies. 

Today the film was about 'How to Die in Oregon'. There it is legal to get help dying... It was awful, absolutely! In the first clip we saw a man getting help and we saw him dying. Terrible!.. Yesterday I blew my nose constantly because I'm sick, today it was because I was crying... Nothing but terminal ill people, not something one should watch alone..

Not that I am against "physician-assisted suicide" (not that a physician actually have to be present (which is a bit scary I think)...) or death with dignity or what people choose to call it, I haven't really made up my mind (I am too much of a coward to think about it). But people should not have to "choose" to die because they do not "want to be a burden" on their family... Or like this guy in the film who had non-curable prostate cancer, whose insurance company would not pay for his 2nd round of chemo therapy as it was not expected to prolong his life long enough (they would only pay for therapies that would prolong a terminal patient’s life with three years I think it was).. But, in the same letter, they stated that they would (like to) pay for this “suicide drugs” should he choose this option… That is just ridiculous… He went to the media with his story and his insurance company (of course) reconsidered their decision and ended up paying for his 2^nd round of chemo… (Which did not help him and he did few weeks later, but that is not the point!)

 

Lunch at République with Nancy

Vi havde en god uge sidste uge, tirsdag var vi til spinning og tog efterfølgende til Uptown og drak øl og spiste mad med seks adventure racere med hvilke Michael forhåbentlig skal race nogle lange AR med. Onsdag var der et 'Taste Diversity' arrangement på mit studie hvor der var en masse mad fra Afrikanske lande og der var dans og musik og studerende fra Afrika der fortalte. Torsdag var jeg til lægen for første gang i USA..WOW.. Det var noget med først at tale med en sygeplejeske, hun tog mit blodtryk, min temperatur og min puls og først derefter kom lægen og kiggede på mit knæ. Han sendte mig videre til en MR scanning som jeg fik tid til dagen efter. Torsdag var vi i biffen hvor vi så Hunger Games (De bøger skal jeg i gang med når mit semester er færdig om et øjeblik). 
Fredag fik jeg lavet en MR scanning af mit knæ, Michael kørte mig derud da det var på vejen til hans arbejde. Der var chips og andre godter i venteværelset og jeg kom til før tid. Meget professionelt. Efter skanningen gik jeg over på en café for at lave lektier.. Det blev dog ikke til andet end oversprings handlinger og skype samtaler.. Der var mega koldt på caféen (vejret er underligt herhenne, i søndags var det 26 grader, dagen efter er det 10..) og jeg tror jeg blev syg dér... Michael kom og spiste frokost med mig og kørte mig hjem hvor jeg fortsatte med at lave ingenting..
Lørdag er jeg blevet syg-ish. Vi kørte vi syd på, 45 min, til Afton State park som er et skisports sted om vinteren og et golf, mtb og alt muligt andet sted når der ikke er sne. I parken var der en der havde sat orienteringsposter op og vi løb to timer med dem. Efterfølgende tog vi på café/restaurant med dem der deltog (tror vi var 15 stk) og spiste brunch/frokost. Lørdag aften tager vi ud og spise Thai og drikker cocktails og fejre vores 1½ dag..Woohoo.


Søndag tog vi til Elm Creek og kørte mtb med Jodi og Scott, der der flere MEGA fedt spor der bare bliver ved og ved, er one-way og som man kun må køre på når det er tørt, så de ikke bliver ødelagt.. Crazy! Der kunne vi godt lære noget i DK... (Selvom man nok aldrig ville komme ud at køre hvis man skulle vente til det blev tørt...)


Nårh men denne uge har jeg bare været syg og ærgerlig.. og i dag har jeg lavet denne fine bunke :-$

Coffee and an overdimensioned scone at Isles Bun in Uptown with Nancy before going to the hairdresser

High Profile Adventure Camp

This weekend we went to Mount Carroll in Illinois on an adventure camp. I drove the most of the way so Michael could work in the car. It took me seven hours to get there. Sunday it took Michael less than six hours to drive us back to Minneapolis...

Friday evening and all Saturday we had clinics on climbing, canoeing, mountain biking, and navigation and Sunday there was a eight hour adventure race. Michael raced with two men and I participated with a couple we met on the camp. 

My team: Mike, Roxane, and I, crossing a river, seven hours into the the race
(Michael finished an hour before this, so he had plenty of time to take pictures of us)  

Me, posing, after I noticed that Michael had found us.

Passing the river in order to enter a cave in find a check point

Do we really want to go in there?

We made it out alive...

On our way, on a bed of anemones

On our way to the third last check point, a zipline...
 Are we sure it's up that huge hill? 

Double checking...

Me, getting ready to jump

Wooohooo

Me, getting ready to do an ascend.

Each team had one robe

Roxane is helping me getting over the first part.

Almost there (notice, none of the others have moved :-D)

Me rappelling down on the other side of the rock, 
while Roxane is ascending it

Me, still on the top, trying to pluck up courage to begin the rappel,
Roxane almost down with her ascend..

Me, rappelling and swearing (...)

Pwwwh

Done after 8 hours and 5 minutes

Roxane and I after the race

Packed for Adventure Camp in Illinois

My first car ride as the chauffeur in a looong time :-$

Hangover pizza in the sun

Re-hydration and pizza in the (hot!) sun at Loring Kitchen right beside
where we live

Saint Patrick's Day

Yesterday we slept in and went mountain biking around noon. The weather was nice, the temperature was above 20 and we were ready for some of the many single tracks in the area - however they were not ready for us…We went to three; all of them were closed... So we ended up going on a less exciting drive on a dirt road. 

In the afternoon we went cycling around the city. It was Saint Patrick’s day and Downtown was crowded with people wearing green and partying. All cafés with tables outside were filled, it was amazing, the atmosphere was great. 

Me on the Stone Arch Bridge

After some cruising we went to a sushi/steak restaurant with a nice roof terrace and had a cocktail in a plastic cup.  

The cocktail turned into some sushi, a bottle of wine (served in plastic cups), more cocktails, a beer, and a Sunday morning headache...

Michael on the rooftop of SEVEN

After work beer at the local British pub

We're been enjoying the 25 celcius degrees mid March! on the rooftop terrace of Brit's pub....

Spring break in Utah

Michael and I at Solitude Ski Resort

Michael at a mogul piste

Enjoying a beer in the sun after a great day of skiing at Solitide

We had paid for three days of skiing and thus had one extra day to do whatever we wanted. We rented a car and drove south to see some of the hot springs in the Diamond Fork canyon. It was a bit more than an hour drive and an hour hike to get to the springs, the weather was not a good as the previous days, but still quite warm and the sun was up.

A Waterfall in Uinta National Forest, Diamond Fork river

Michael in the hotter spring

Michael and I in one of the hot springs

On the way back from the springs we stopped to see some of scenery 

Wednesday morning we went to Salt Lake City for a couple of hours before we had to go to the airport. We saw Temple Square and walked the streets that are made as a grid plan with streets going only south-north or east-west, and had a coffee and a hot chocolate at a café Downtown.

Michael in front of the Salt Lake Temple