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If all he needed was fluids and a place to lay down, why did you go to an expensive ER?
You've never had a kidney stone? Those can hurt. And I mean HURT. The first time that I had one I went to ER because I did not know what was going on, just excruciating pain. ER was thorough, the doctor very good, treatment was the same as described above.
I don't remember the cost, my health insurance paid it.
If all he needed was fluids and a place to lay down, why did you go to an expensive ER?
I'm sure he didn't know when be went to the ER that his acute abdominal pain was due to a kidney stone he was in the process of passing. It could have been anything from acute appendicitis, to an intestinal blockage, to acute pancreatitis, to name a few things that are acute emergencies. In fact, if someone shows up at a walk-in clinic or rapid treatment clinic with acute abdominal pain, they will be sent to the ER.
All the jokers speculating on physicians being overpaid don't seem to actually get it or know how it works.
This is what chaps my hide.
Let's take the ER, then.
The average actual collection per patient over 2,000,000 or so visits for one company I am familiar with is $125.
You honestly think that is too much money to pay the ER doctor? $125?
Oh, but that's not actually what the doc gets. Bc he belongs to a group that contracts to the hospital. The group has overhead. Bc there is the billing and coding and other overhead (credentialing staff, accounting staff, legal staff, office, midlevels,etc).
The ER doc gets...~$60 a patient.
If you honestly think $125 FOR AN ER VISIT is too much, you can go pound sand.
Or at least get your facts straight before you wax poetic about overpayment.
The title of this thread (and many who complain about their ER bill) should be:
I used the ER wrong and now I'm mad I have a bill to pay
Bravo. This is almost the correct diagnosis Dr. Stan.
The real diagnosis is - IMO - I used the ER for what I thought might be a real emergency. And - since it turned out it was a false alarm - I'm mad that I have to pay for the false alarm.
If I woke up one morning with an acute onset of a (new) severe visual disturbance - well I'm not going to sit down with my computer and start Googling and doing my own differential diagnosis. I'm going to ask my husband to take me to the ER - because I might be having a stroke - where every minute counts. Same when it comes to heart attack symptoms (I get an occasional 5 minutes of heartburn - but more than that - coupled with other symptoms - like a lot of pain in my shoulder - typical for women having heart attacks - well it would be off to the ER too).
When you go to the ER - most doctors in most decent hospitals assume that most literate patients with IQs in triple digits are coming there because they think they might have an emergency to deal with. And I would be totally insulted if a hospital ER treated me like a hypochondriac or anything similar (like in the Libby Zion case) - and dismissed whatever it was that caused me to show up in the first place. Without doing any tests that might be appropriate.
FWIW - last time we were in an ER was a couple of years ago when my father had a GI bleed. He should have seen his doctor on Thursday/Friday. But was busy with other things . So he didn't - and was still bleeding on Saturday. So we all wound up in the ER/hospital for a full day on Saturday - half day on Sunday (after hospital overnight observation). Cost a few dollars more than a weekday workup would have cost - and my husband and I lost a weekend. My father bit**** more than we did.
BTW - we were super impressed with the ER. Loved the doctors/nurses/everything. Won't go there unless necessary. But won't be afraid to if I think it's necessary. Robyn
a few weeks ago My dad had a retinal tear on a weekend, when no ophthalmologists were available.
It's urgent, but not a true emergency, although it could worsen to a retinal detachment.
In such weekend cases, you go to the ER, and they page the eyedoc on call.
How do you know this is the protocol? Has it ever happened to you/have you ever done it before? Robyn
I'm sure he didn't know when be went to the ER that his acute abdominal pain was due to a kidney stone he was in the process of passing. It could have been anything from acute appendicitis, to an intestinal blockage, to acute pancreatitis, to name a few things that are acute emergencies. In fact, if someone shows up at a walk-in clinic or rapid treatment clinic with acute abdominal pain, they will be sent to the ER.
Exactly. That was my point and thanks for answering the way I predicted someone would. When you go to the ER, you are paying for the availability of handling any problem you walk in with. You are paying for that spiral CT scanner. You are paying for being fully staffed after 5pm and on weekends.... 24/7. There are numerous staff you never even saw who were working on your case....radiology, desk clerks, lab techs, housekeeping, security, etc. You get immediate access to a business that has invested millions of dollars in overhead each year to stay open despite worsening regulatory requirements. You get immediate access to physicians who are willing to see you regardless of what time of night you come in and no matter how non-urgent your problem is, instead of telling you to call the office in the morning. You are paying to have a trauma surgeon down the hall, for having at least one operating room open at all times to rush you into....my hospital has 12 ORs but they only run 11 at once because one always has to be ready for a trauma case to roll up.
So what role do you play in your hospital? Just curious. I've only been in hospital ERs a handful of times. And all except for 1 time for elderly parents.
I am not sure what people who whine about costs in ERs for false alarms and similar realize what can actually go on in ERs.
The most dramatic thing I ever saw was when my late FIL - who lived in a SNF here - was admitted to the Mayo ER with a double pneumothorax. Looked like he had about 10 minutes left (if that). There happened to be a cardiac surgeon "in house" - waiting for a transplant operation. So the ER doc (who could have done the procedure - but preferred having a more experienced doc on the case) called him down - and the cardiac surgeon did what was necessary - plunging those tubes into my FIL. My husband and I were there - and saw my FIL turn from a likely corpse into a warm pink hued living person again. It was honestly like something you would see on TV (or probably even more dramatic!). Looked like a miracle in our book.
I guess some people go to ERs because they have a cold. But that is not their highest or anywhere near their best use IMO. Robyn
I guess some people go to ERs because they have a cold. But that is not their highest or anywhere near their best use IMO. Robyn
You sound like a very reasonable person and I think you would be amazed. I once had a mom bring her kid to the ER to fill out her school's medical form to start school the next day.
You sound like a very reasonable person and I think you would be amazed. I once had a mom bring her kid to the ER to fill out her school's medical form to start school the next day.
Tons of visits for work notes. Tons.
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. So he didn't - and was still bleeding on Saturday. So we all wound up in the ER/hospital for a full day on Saturday - half day on Sunday (after hospital overnight observation). Cost a few dollars more than a weekday workup would have cost - and my husband and I lost a weekend. My father bit**** more than we did.
