After a little fall in the French Alps (actually I think I was in Switzerland at the time), I had a bit of a sore shoulder . . . OK, it was swollen, couldn't sleep on it, and didn't get any better after three weeks. So I braved the french health care system (don't think there was an english speaking person in a 10 kilometer radius) to get it checked out.Basically I had to go to a general care doctor first, but that was easy since my Doctor at the plant fulfilled that requirement. He ended up sending me to the Trauma Center between Strasbourg and Fegersheim - think emergency room kind of situation.
Fortunately I went early in the day so there was absolutely no one there, and the service was really quite extraordinary. In total I spent about two hours there between Admissions, initial examination, first X-Ray, consultation, wrapping of said shoulder, and then second X-Ray to make sure everything was in the right place.
Final diagnosis is a badly pulled ligament and a clavicle that is a centimeter higher on the right side than the left. Considering this is AFTER three weeks of healing, they really didn't understand why I waited so long. So they applied some heavy duty wraps (8 in all, I think) to push the clavicle down. It wasn't really the most enjoyable experience, but it beats having a shoulder that is a centimeter higher on one side than the other. The 'bandages' have to stay on for about three weeks, and then my regular doctor can take them off to make sure everything is OK.
Final cost (I had to pay, since I'm not a French citizen) was 85 euros (about $100) - most of that gets reimbursed from my insurance plan after I submit it. I figure the bill from a US doctor who would read the X-Rays a day later after they had dried would have been at least that much - so I got the diagnosis, X-Rays, bandages, prescription, and an improved medical french vocabulary for free. Not bad for a healthcare system that costs half than the US ($2077 vs $4178) per capita.
