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It costs that much in an emergency room, where the price is based on having multiple x-ray machines + radiologists available, 24/7, 365 with a 5 minute wait. I

It costs that much in an emergency room, where the price is based on having multiple x-ray machines + radiologists available, 24/7, 365 with a 5 minute wait. If you go to a clinic, which works 9-5 M-F, they're $40 (chest x-ray for a green card), 20minute wait.

deltaonefour 5y ago
7-11 is 24/7 hours too and an even faster wait time for a ice cold coke. I can't tell if your post is just illustrating the difference or justifying it because a 5 minute wait time and 24/7 radiologists on call doesn't justify 69k in any reality.
- jpollock 5y ago
  It's not just an x-ray machine. The ER must amortize all equipment required to support their peak usage. So that's MRI machines, doctors, nurses, radiologists, orderlies, everyone. Then that cost is spread across all patients, regardless of what they use. This is why in countries with socialized healthcare, there is a lot of encouragement to go to "Urgent Care" instead of "Emergency". Those centers don't have fancy equipment, but they're able to xray and set an arm. That allows the healthcare system to reduce the opex - but does increase capex/patient. Think of it like having machines allocated to deal with a monthly 5x traffic spike (it's a sale!), and an annual 10x traffic spike (Christmas!). The rest of the time, they're sitting there idle, but the capex and unsheddable opex is amortized across all of the traffic. No, you can't scale dynamically, you're the primary occupant/hosting provider.
  - pkstn 5y ago
    Here it costs the same no matter clinic or 24/7 hospital. The whole visit actually costs around 20€ or less than 30€ in late hours (there's also yearly maximum you need to pay). There's no extra cost for x ray or anything else.
    - jpollock 5y ago
      Cost to you is not necessarily the true cost. It depends on how the ER is being funded. Since you're in the EU, I assume you've got socialized health care. That means everyone has health insurance with a co-pay. A co-pay is intended to discourage use, not cover costs. The rest of the cost of the ER still exists, it just isn't directly funded by people attending the ER.
pkstn 5y ago
Here it costs the same no matter if it's clinic or 24/7 hospital. Actually the whole visit costs around 20€ and during late hours it's less then 30€. X ray or anything else is not billed separately.

deltaonefour 5y ago

7-11 is 24/7 hours too and an even faster wait time for a ice cold coke. I can't tell if your post is just illustrating the difference or justifying it because a 5 minute wait time and 24/7 radiologists on call doesn't justify 69k in any reality.

jpollock 5y ago
It's not just an x-ray machine. The ER must amortize all equipment required to support their peak usage. So that's MRI machines, doctors, nurses, radiologists, orderlies, everyone. Then that cost is spread across all patients, regardless of what they use. This is why in countries with socialized healthcare, there is a lot of encouragement to go to "Urgent Care" instead of "Emergency". Those centers don't have fancy equipment, but they're able to xray and set an arm. That allows the healthcare system to reduce the opex - but does increase capex/patient. Think of it like having machines allocated to deal with a monthly 5x traffic spike (it's a sale!), and an annual 10x traffic spike (Christmas!). The rest of the time, they're sitting there idle, but the capex and unsheddable opex is amortized across all of the traffic. No, you can't scale dynamically, you're the primary occupant/hosting provider.
- pkstn 5y ago
  Here it costs the same no matter clinic or 24/7 hospital. The whole visit actually costs around 20€ or less than 30€ in late hours (there's also yearly maximum you need to pay). There's no extra cost for x ray or anything else.
  - jpollock 5y ago
    Cost to you is not necessarily the true cost. It depends on how the ER is being funded. Since you're in the EU, I assume you've got socialized health care. That means everyone has health insurance with a co-pay. A co-pay is intended to discourage use, not cover costs. The rest of the cost of the ER still exists, it just isn't directly funded by people attending the ER.

pkstn 5y ago

Here it costs the same no matter if it's clinic or 24/7 hospital. Actually the whole visit costs around 20€ and during late hours it's less then 30€. X ray or anything else is not billed separately.