Why are there so many (new) healthcare facilities in South Jeffco? (Boulder: insurance, house)

[katharsis]

In my area (470 and Bowles), there have been three new emergency healthcare facilities built in the past three years, I think (one of these is not quite finished); and another new one is being built at Wadsworth and Coal Mine, only about three miles away -- which is just about a mile from the Swedish ER by Clement Park, and up the street from that one on Bowles is an Urgent Care (across from Target). In short, there will soon be six Urgent Care facilities within about four miles of where I live! This area is just a fairly typical suburb, btw, that is filled mostly with families.

It seems to me that this is a waste of time, resources, and personnel, and that this might lead to a higher cost for healthcare as I would think that the facilities might have to charge more just to break even. (In the case of emergency care, people usually don't take the time to shop around.) I honestly just don't see the need for so many of them.

Your thoughts?

[guyatwork37]

Last time in that area I noticed ed that there were a lot of old people around. My guess is that a lot of old people = need for a lot of medical facilities.

[katharsis]

Originally Posted by guyatwork37

Last time in that area I noticed ed that there were a lot of old people around. My guess is that a lot of old people = need for a lot of medical facilities.

Nope. Mostly families -- I would guess the average adult age is probably only about 40-45.

[robertgoodman]

Urgent care walk in clinics save money if it diverts enough people from going to the ER if they have the flu, a sprained ankle etc. Those clinics have relatively low overhead in terms of infrastructure and are typically staffed by a NP instead of a Dr.

ER visits cost insurers/patients a lot of money, and take up valuable ER space when it's for more minor maladies that could be addressed elsewhere. Whether you need that many urgent care centers in that area for the numbers to add up I cannot answer that, but I am sure some people are running the numbers.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by robertgoodman

Urgent care walk in clinics save money if it diverts enough people from going to the ER if they have the flu, a sprained ankle etc. Those clinics have relatively low overhead in terms of infrastructure and are typically staffed by a NP instead of a Dr.

ER visits cost insurers/patients a lot of money, and take up valuable ER space when it's for more minor maladies that could be addressed elsewhere. Whether you need that many urgent care centers in that area for the numbers to add up I cannot answer that, but I am sure some people are running the numbers.

Many urgent cares have an MD on duty, such as the one in Lafayette run by Boulder Community Health (hospital). I agree with the rest of your post. Urgent cares tend to be open fewer hours, say 7AM-11PM, not have a big lab, things like that which make the care less expensive.

[bluescreen73]

How many of these new facilities are "Freestanding ERs?" Those are popping up like mad in affluent areas. Within a 2-3 mile radius of my house we have 2 Urgent Care facilities and 4 or 5 of these "ERs."

IMNSHO Freestanding ERs are a scam. They're not a whole lot more capable than an Urgent Care facility, but because they're classified as an emergency room they can charge out the wazoo for services rendered.

If you have a real emergency like, say, a heart attack, a standalone ER will stabilize you then ship you off to a real ER attached to a hospital for admitting. Are you keeping track of the number of potential bills? We're up to three or four minimum in this scenario.

1. Facility charge for freestanding ER
2. Ambulance transport to real ER
3. Facility Charge for real ER
4. Facility Charge for hospital admittance

That doesn't count physician/professional group bills from the doctor(s) who treat you, either.

If you don't have a life-threatening emergency and you walk into a standalone ER for something like stitches, you could easily get a bill for a thousand bucks or more. Unless you've got really solid insurance you'll be on the hook for around 20% of that bill (as opposed to a modest co-pay for a trip to a qualified urgent care facility).

[robertgoodman]

Originally Posted by Katarina Witt

Many urgent cares have an MD on duty, such as the one in Lafayette run by Boulder Community Health (hospital). I agree with the rest of your post. Urgent cares tend to be open fewer hours, say 7AM-11PM, not have a big lab, things like that which make the care less expensive.

I've only dealt with out of state ones while doing some consulting, so it's possible they do it differently state to state due to various regulations or I dealt with cheaper clients.

[Texas Ag 93]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

How many of these new facilities are "Freestanding ERs?" Those are popping up like mad in affluent areas. Within a 2-3 mile radius of my house we have 2 Urgent Care facilities and 4 or 5 of these "ERs."

IMNSHO Freestanding ERs are a scam. They're not a whole lot more capable than an Urgent Care facility, but because they're classified as an emergency room they can charge out the wazoo for services rendered.

These free standing ER's (which, as you point out, are different from Urgent Care clinics) are big here too in the area of Houston where I live.

My husband is an Orthopedic surgeon and knows several docs who staff these facilities. They are almost always out of network, regardless of what insurance you have, and their charges are often much more expensive than a hospital based ER.

He talked to a colleague who said they only have to see 11 patients per day to break even, everything above that is pure profit. That should answer the question about why they seem to be popping up everywhere....

[2bindenver]

I used to live near Wadsworth & Chatfield. My (now ex) husband needed stitches after an accident. We went to the urgent care facility at Bowles & Wadsworth affiliated with Swedish.

After looking at our insurance card, they said it would be all out of pocket, since they are not a network facility. I took him to Littleton hospital for care. Out of pocket expenses, $50 copay.

[Mike from back east]

Could be these new providers have popped up to service those newly insured under the ACA. Just a guess, but if there's newly insured people with health care dollars available to spend from insurers then you can bet there will be doctors out there to sop up the "new" money that's up for grabs.