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Dislocated my left index finger, necessitating an emergency room visit. A series of x-rays before, an MD, fruitless attempts without novocaine, a digital block (Lidocaine), successful "reduction" (popping it back in), a series of x-rays after, and an aluminum splint. It took almost an hour since the MD was unable to pop it back in prior to wearing gloves and using Lidocaine (which helped relax the muscles as well as relieved patient distress).
Looking for a ballpark estimate of costs, from those who've been through similar minor emergency situations. I have the "high deductible" health insurance.
This is my first visit to a doctor other than my father (or a dentist) in my life since before I was a teenager (my father is a doctor).
By the way, other than the difficulty treating the injury, the visit was very pleasant -- zero waiting, very courteous and efficient staff, very satisfied. Just scared of the bill now... Thanks!
It's going to be a little bit, without knowing the CPT's I would say at least 5k (that's charge, not what you pay...what you pay would be around 3k min), ED services are the most expensive in the hospital besides ICU per incident.
My ballpark guess would be around $2000-$3000. But is could be more. (Could also be less. I wouldn't bet on it, but hard to say.) Don't worry about the time you were there. ER charges are based on the level of care you required. Still, that is a lot of money! Does the hospital have an assistance program you might qualify for? Some hospitals set the income level for assistance actually fairly high, so if this bill is going to be a hardship for you, it might be worth looking in to.
Trying to buy a house right now, that's my biggest concern. Lender will not like $2200 to $2600 flying out the window.
I grossed $55K last year, so not much chance of assistance. I really regret going to the hospital now, even though the finger was grotesquely out of whack. Should have left the second they said it wasn't broken and had my father reduce it.
I just recieved a statement from my ER visit to the local hospital for my dislocated finger treated with a lidocaine block. The bill was $1900. Ouch! That hurt more than the injury.
To the OP, so long as you could get to your father quickly, it would have been OK. But your nerve was pinched while the finger was dislocated and too much time like that and you have a permanently damaged nerve.
My father the orthopedic surgeon would not have left it at that, either. He would have wanted an x-ray afterwards. I did dislocate a finger once, had it put back in place, and then a week later had an x-ray that showed a bone chip pulled off by the force of the dislocation. End result = surgery to repair the chip.
Trying to buy a house right now, that's my biggest concern. Lender will not like $2200 to $2600 flying out the window.
I grossed $55K last year, so not much chance of assistance. I really regret going to the hospital now, even though the finger was grotesquely out of whack. Should have left the second they said it wasn't broken and had my father reduce it.
Thanks.
1. Talk to the hospital billing dept and see if you can negotiate a lower price. If it's a teaching hospital or a public hospital, it's very likely they'll do that based on your income. They won't eliminate it but they might knock off a couple hundred bucks.
2. If your area has a "critical care" facility in addition to a hospital ER, next time, use the "critical care" facility instead. They are typically much less expensive and have x-ray and other similar services. ER should be reserved for serious, potentially life-threatening or limb-threatening problems (such as if that finger was dangling by the skin, as opposed to being dislocated but still entirely attached and the skin unbroken).
3. Also for future reference: if it's not that kind of "OMG get me an ambulance!" problem, always attempt to call your primary care physician first, before deciding to go to the ER. If he's available at his office, or even on call *at* the hospital, he might see you immediately and save you mucho bucks in the process.
If your area has a "critical care" facility in addition to a hospital ER, next time, use the "critical care" facility instead. They are typically much less expensive and have x-ray and other similar services. ER should be reserved for serious, potentially life-threatening or limb-threatening problems (such as if that finger was dangling by the skin, as opposed to being dislocated but still entirely attached and the skin unbroken).
I agree. I work in an ER for a hospital that operates an urgent care center. It is amazing the high level of care you can get at an urgent care. The wait is often shorter, and the cost can mu much lower. The only down side is that an urgent care may require you to pay your share of the visit at the time of service, whereas EMTALA limits what an ER is allowed to charge before service is provided.
I had to get an abdominal CT-Scan last week that was over in like 2 minutes and it was $3,900 so I can only imagine how much emergency care would be.
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