Same Day Orthopedic Care in Philly Area?

October 2, 2014 4:54 AM

Help me find someone to figure out what's wrong with my knee in Phila, PA area. NOW.

Background: I'm 45, active, father of 3. Last week, started feeling pain in the back of my knee, chalked it up to age/arthritis as it wasn't particularly worrisome or tied to any particular trauma. This week, pain has migrated and become more severe. Seems to be mostly in the medial part of the knee, accompanied with pops and a feeling of fullness or internal swelling. Yesterday afternoon and overnight the joint locked up twice, once as I turned over in my sleep (!), accompanied with severe pain.

So - I can't walk very far without the pain coming on, and am afraid I may collapse. The options I know of are:
-Call my primary care doc. This doesn't appeal as she would just refer me and I really need to get this treated ASAP.
-Go to ER. God no. Please.
-Go to urgent care center. Hmm. Mainline Health has one nearby, they offer imaging services on site. Leaning this way.
-Go to orthopedic urgent care center- here is one in Malvern: http://www.paorthocenter.com/urgent-care.html
I know nothing of this organization, and online research has been equivocal.

So, your advice, both general (e.g. go to urgent care) and specific (see Dr. XXXYY, she'll squeeze you in same day) is welcome!

Thanks.

posted by Mister_A to Health & Fitness (6 answers total)

I would go to ER, here's why:

Pain is increasing, not decreasing
ER will have specialists and all the equipment necessary to evaluate your condition on site and available to you


One thing you might do is call your GP and ask who he/she would recommend for Ortho and could they arrange something today because it's super painful, but an Ortho doc might still need to schedule an MRI, X-ray, etc....and then you're waiting again.

I will say that ER in the middle of the day, on a weekday will not be the nightmare it usually is at night and on weekends.

Good luck to you.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 5:10 AM on October 2, 2014 [5 favorites]

One way or another, in all likelihood, you'll need to see an orthopedist, so your insurance will dictate your route to that. If you need an insurance referral from your PCP, just go to the PCP ASAP, get the referral, and then go to one of the Rothman Institute locations if they're in network. If urgent care can give you an insurance referral, maybe go there, but don't expect them to do a lot for an ortho issue. If you don't need a referral, just make your appointment with Rothman; they'll be able to get you in quickly. I'm sure you know this already, but if your insurance does require an insurance referral, DO NOT GO to an ortho without getting that: it will be ungodly expensive. Don't bother with Penn Orthopedics: you'll wait weeks to get in, and I've found I get better care at Rothman regardless.
posted by The Michael The at 5:28 AM on October 2, 2014 [1 favorite]

Seconding Rothman Institute. Their schedulers are very helpful so let them know what you want (same day in this area). They were able to see me the same day at another location and were amazing. I saw Dr. Sommer who was amazing.
posted by PeaPod at 8:06 AM on October 2, 2014

Thirding Rothman, I've been to the Bryn Mawr one and one branch should be able to see you very soon. They did an on-site X-Ray as part of my initial visit, although I don't know what other office diagnostic tools they have access too. My experience scheduling MRIs and tests with Main Line was frequently same or next day, though I haven't used the Urgent Care offices, just the regular outpatient services through Bryn Mawr Hospital. I suspect that going to Rothman would be better because you'll have a doctor as a point of contact for follow-up visits, whereas usually UC involves referrals for more advanced care/follow-ups even if they can do basic diagnostics on-site. (I could be wrong though and if you need an insurance referral, it might be a better option.) Just as an FYI, Rothman referred me to Excel for PT, and they were absolutely great. If you do need PT, they're a good option with great hours.
posted by jetlagaddict at 8:47 AM on October 2, 2014

Try ZocDoc - you input your location, your insurance and it gives you names and availability. It works for some cities including Philly.
posted by sciencegeek at 1:42 PM on October 2, 2014

Hey Mister_A, how did you make out?
posted by The Michael The at 5:48 AM on October 5, 2014