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Actually it wasn't a critically urgent problem but needed doctors attention. If someone wants an idea for an app or website - a way to lookup local ERs by price

by rb808 8y ago

Actually it wasn't a critically urgent problem but needed doctors attention. If someone wants an idea for an app or website - a way to lookup local ERs by price would be great.

sovnade 8y ago
Every single ER will charge every insurance company/plan differently, so that list would be pretty unreliable.
- DesiLurker 8y ago
  that is the whole point of publishing prices. with it implicitly you have to adjust your billing to be able to charge predictably for a service such as MRI etc. and if you dont you dont survive in long run as people gravitate towards the providers that give them clarity. why should be hospitals be the only ones allowed to do this highly anticompetitive practice?
  - dragonwriter 8y ago
    If clarity was a compelling concern for healthcare purchasers, everyone would buy HMO plans, which provide certainty for most things even where the provider doesn't.
  - noelsusman 8y ago
    The vast majority of patients don't care about price because their insurance is covering it.
    - sovnade 8y ago
      That's shifting though with the rise in popularity of high deductible plans. My plan is 5k deductible, 5k OOP Max, so I'm acutely aware of how much everything costs.
blang 8y ago
They do this in Maryland[1], I wish it were standard across the US [1] https://healthcarequality.mhcc.maryland.gov/Article/View/f84086b8-f1c2-41f2-b0cb-2d7be92a36ab https://healthcarequality.mhcc.maryland.gov/Article/View/f84...
udba 8y ago
>If someone wants an idea for an app or website - a way to lookup local ERs by price would be great. >lookup local ERs by price Incredible. It's absurd that an idea like this is a reasonable suggestion.
- joshuabosco 8y ago
  It's beyond absurd. Last year my system cut her finger quite deeply while dealing with a can opener, at ~9.30pm. It wasn't an ambulance-worthy emergency but still, it didn't look good. So we called our emergency number and they sent out an "ambulance lite", basically a paramedic and a doctor who's just finished university. The cut wasn't serious despite the great loss of blood, but it was in a tricky spot and the young doctor didn't want to deal with it without a second opinion. So they took her to the ER, and we followed by car. At the ER, within 45 minutes, she had seen the doctor on call that night and got the stitches put on from the cosmetic surgeon on duty that night. Not only it didn't cost us 1 cent but we even got a free cup of coffee out of it, offered by one the ambulance drivers who was on call that night. I envy a lot of things about the US, but not their medical care.
- sgjohnson 8y ago
  Why? It’s the free market approach. After all, healthcare is just a service.
  - udba 8y ago
    Like someone in this thread said: "Medical care really is one of those things that no person should have to beg or borrow for, in a civil society." There's nothing I can do for you if you think that access to health care should be contingent on your bank account.
Jorge1o1 8y ago
My fear is that if hospitals start to make their prices publicly available, it will drive prices upward not downward. Why? Because hospitals have no incentive to compete on price. The majority of people get ambulance'd to the nearest hospital, not necessarily the cheapest one. So any hospital that notices it's charging less than its competitors will raise its price, because, why not? It's a very inelastic demand.
- dragonwriter 8y ago
  > The majority of people get ambulance'd to the nearest hospital, not necessarily the cheapest one. But is ambulanced-in patients the majority of hospital business?
  - Jorge1o1 8y ago
    I suppose it depends on the operation. You might find price competition in non-emergency operations, but price fixing in emergency operations.
  - noelsusman 8y ago
    No, not remotely. Scheduled surgeries are the lion's share of revenue at any hospital.
- DesiLurker 8y ago
  this is the kind of bogus reasoning lobbyists use to get congress pass BS anticompetetive laws. you do know that most people who get into ambulance are not unconscious, right?
  - DoreenMichele 8y ago
    Er, and, most folks arrive by car. I'm pretty sure ambulance arrivals are a tiny percentage of their overall business. Opinion based on a. Being alive and b. Paying accident claims for 5+ years. Even with accidents, most claims did not involve an ambulance bill. In one memorable claim, a gunshot victim drove himself to the ER with multiple bullet wounds while bleeding profusely.
dragonwriter 8y ago
> If someone wants an idea for an app or website - a way to lookup local ERs by price would be great. Predicting current local ER wait times for a given set of symptoms would probably be more useful.
pascalxus 8y ago
And an app to verify that all doctors, nurses and equipment used in a procedure are all part of your in-network. Going out of network is so devastating, you could loose your entire life savings.

by rb808 8y ago

Actually it wasn't a critically urgent problem but needed doctors attention. If someone wants an idea for an app or website - a way to lookup local ERs by price would be great.

sovnade 8y ago

Every single ER will charge every insurance company/plan differently, so that list would be pretty unreliable.

DesiLurker 8y ago
that is the whole point of publishing prices. with it implicitly you have to adjust your billing to be able to charge predictably for a service such as MRI etc. and if you dont you dont survive in long run as people gravitate towards the providers that give them clarity. why should be hospitals be the only ones allowed to do this highly anticompetitive practice?
- dragonwriter 8y ago
  If clarity was a compelling concern for healthcare purchasers, everyone would buy HMO plans, which provide certainty for most things even where the provider doesn't.
- noelsusman 8y ago
  The vast majority of patients don't care about price because their insurance is covering it.
  - sovnade 8y ago
    That's shifting though with the rise in popularity of high deductible plans. My plan is 5k deductible, 5k OOP Max, so I'm acutely aware of how much everything costs.

blang 8y ago

They do this in Maryland[1], I wish it were standard across the US [1] https://healthcarequality.mhcc.maryland.gov/Article/View/f84086b8-f1c2-41f2-b0cb-2d7be92a36ab https://healthcarequality.mhcc.maryland.gov/Article/View/f84...

udba 8y ago

>If someone wants an idea for an app or website - a way to lookup local ERs by price would be great. >lookup local ERs by price Incredible. It's absurd that an idea like this is a reasonable suggestion.

joshuabosco 8y ago
It's beyond absurd. Last year my system cut her finger quite deeply while dealing with a can opener, at ~9.30pm. It wasn't an ambulance-worthy emergency but still, it didn't look good. So we called our emergency number and they sent out an "ambulance lite", basically a paramedic and a doctor who's just finished university. The cut wasn't serious despite the great loss of blood, but it was in a tricky spot and the young doctor didn't want to deal with it without a second opinion. So they took her to the ER, and we followed by car. At the ER, within 45 minutes, she had seen the doctor on call that night and got the stitches put on from the cosmetic surgeon on duty that night. Not only it didn't cost us 1 cent but we even got a free cup of coffee out of it, offered by one the ambulance drivers who was on call that night. I envy a lot of things about the US, but not their medical care.
sgjohnson 8y ago
Why? It’s the free market approach. After all, healthcare is just a service.
- udba 8y ago
  Like someone in this thread said: "Medical care really is one of those things that no person should have to beg or borrow for, in a civil society." There's nothing I can do for you if you think that access to health care should be contingent on your bank account.

Jorge1o1 8y ago

My fear is that if hospitals start to make their prices publicly available, it will drive prices upward not downward. Why? Because hospitals have no incentive to compete on price. The majority of people get ambulance'd to the nearest hospital, not necessarily the cheapest one. So any hospital that notices it's charging less than its competitors will raise its price, because, why not? It's a very inelastic demand.

dragonwriter 8y ago
> The majority of people get ambulance'd to the nearest hospital, not necessarily the cheapest one. But is ambulanced-in patients the majority of hospital business?
- Jorge1o1 8y ago
  I suppose it depends on the operation. You might find price competition in non-emergency operations, but price fixing in emergency operations.
- noelsusman 8y ago
  No, not remotely. Scheduled surgeries are the lion's share of revenue at any hospital.
DesiLurker 8y ago
this is the kind of bogus reasoning lobbyists use to get congress pass BS anticompetetive laws. you do know that most people who get into ambulance are not unconscious, right?
- DoreenMichele 8y ago
  Er, and, most folks arrive by car. I'm pretty sure ambulance arrivals are a tiny percentage of their overall business. Opinion based on a. Being alive and b. Paying accident claims for 5+ years. Even with accidents, most claims did not involve an ambulance bill. In one memorable claim, a gunshot victim drove himself to the ER with multiple bullet wounds while bleeding profusely.

dragonwriter 8y ago

> If someone wants an idea for an app or website - a way to lookup local ERs by price would be great. Predicting current local ER wait times for a given set of symptoms would probably be more useful.

pascalxus 8y ago

And an app to verify that all doctors, nurses and equipment used in a procedure are all part of your in-network. Going out of network is so devastating, you could loose your entire life savings.