Does your Dentist have Hospital admitting privileges?

[cthulu2016]

There are a lot of things that can (and sometimes do) happen in a dentist office that require you to go to the hospital.

A reaction to anesthesia, uncontrolled bleeding, discovery of a very serious infection, a broken jaw during an extraction, etc..

And if your dentist does not have hospital admitting privileges you are just out of luck. You will be dragged to the curb and left to die there.

Oh wait... actually your dentist would call 9/11 and the paramedics would take you to the hospital where you would be treated and, if medically necessary, kept at the hospital for as long as required.

Admitting privileges means that a doctor can admit someone to the hospital herself. "I am putting Patient Jane Doe in the hospital next Thursday." Like, "I don't like how after two weeks this thing isn't responding to the treatement... I want to put you in the hospital over night for some tests." And that doctor can order tests and such.

And the hospital in question is often not even the closest hospital. In an emergency the ambulance will (one hopes) take you to the closest hospital, not whichever one your doctor has an arrangement with for non-emergency admissions.

A lack of an admitting privilege arrangement does not mean that a patient cannot be treated at a hospital if something goes wrong with a dental procedure or abortion, etc..

The sort of medical emergencies that may arise at a dentist or reproductive health clinic or lawn mower repair shop are handled as medical emergencies.

[font color=green]This OP is inspired by Cali's post on the topic:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=4741153 [/font]

[cbayer]

1. While dental surgeons generally have admitting privileges, dentists generally do not.

Was there some issue that came up about this?

[cthulu2016]

4. The abortion clinic thing.

People who are shocked that an abortion clinic doesn't have admitting privileges should ponder how they survived going to the dentist all these years.

The anti-choicers rely on a perception that without admitting privileges, that if something goes wrong during a routine abortion the patient would be unable to go to the hospital.

[cbayer]

5. Ah, this is about the laws that said that practitioners at clinics would

be required to have admitting privileges somewhere.

I didn't see that that was being discussed here.

Do you have a link?

[cthulu2016]

6. At the bottom of the OP is a link to Cali's thread on the topic

[cbayer]

7. Thanks so much for adding that.

[PoliticAverse]

8. In fact in order to be board certified by The American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

you must have hospital Admitting privileges...

https://www.aboms.org/PublicPages/CertificationMaintenance/FAQ.aspx

Q: What is needed to fulfill the Professional Standing requirement?

A: To fulfill the Professional Standing requirement, a Diplomate must meet two requirements: (1) The Diplomate must show possession of a current unrestricted medical or dental license, and (2) current hospital privileges allowing patient admission and the performance of core procedures in oral and maxillofacial surgery. Evidence of both of these requirements is reported through Annual Registration in every year of the 10 year Certification Maintenance cycle.

[cbayer]

9. That's true in a number of specialties.

Hospital privileges are not all that easily obtained. The hospital has a vested interest in assuring that those they grant privileges to have the requisite education, training and experience to do what they are asking to do. They also generally scrutinize things like medical liability issues.

It can also be expensive.

Many physicians do not have privileges but do have arrangements with other physicians to care for their patients should they be hospitalized. I suspect the same is true for dentists.

[Aerows]

2. Not my dentist

My orthodontist did. He nearly needed to do it when extracting my severely impacted wisdom teeth. That was a nightmare.

[randome]

3. Too bad rational thought has no place in a discussion with hard-core Conservatives.

They will cackle gleefully about their little 'victory'.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]There is nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it.
Nothing.[/center][/font][hr]