3 ms·

I mean I'm not sure that you shouldn't be charged ER prices for taking an over-the-counter-treatable injury to the ER. You probably shouldn't be charged 4000 fo

I mean I'm not sure that you shouldn't be charged ER prices for taking an over-the-counter-treatable injury to the ER. You probably shouldn't be charged 4000 for going to the ER, but just because you didn't actually need to go to the ER doesn't mean you didn't consume ER resources (the 24/7 staffing, the intake logistics, the trauma expertise, etc). Probably the biggest surprise there is that a doctor saw you at all instead of you being filtered out by a triage nurse and sent to urgent care.

dghlsakjg 3y ago
You have no idea what this person was being seen for. It is fairly common for someone to be advised to seek emergency treatment out of precaution to ensure that a minor symptom is not indicative of a severe problem. For example dizziness can be a completely nothing-burger inner ear problem treated with a bunch of motions from youtube, or it can be a stroke. The ER exists to make that distinction. Part of all those logistics and resources should be used to shunt people to the correct treatment center, but liability suits and extreme profitability mean that the incentive is to treat them in the ER. Put into other terms, if you were hospital admin incentivized on billing, and could bill someone $5k instead of $160 for a non-urgent issue, wouldn't you? The fixed costs are the same, the ER is running 24/7 with a trauma team, might as well make it profitable.
- BobaFloutist 3y ago
  >You have no idea what this person was being seen for. I feel fairly comfortable assuming that they were being seen for a minor-to-moderate burn.
  - dghlsakjg 3y ago
    That was the treatment received, but perhaps they were referred to the ER by EMS for smoke inhalation. I don't know either, but the broader point is that people are referred to the ED by medical professionals for seemingly minor issues all the time, and that the incentives are all lined up to treat stupid shit in the ER rather than have someone tell them to go somewhere that makes more sense.
    - dylan604 3y ago
      > That was the treatment received, but perhaps they were referred to the ER by EMS for... Isn't it CYA for any EMS to recommend you visiting the hospital, so they just say it to anyone. That allows them to later say that you failed to follow recommended advice.
      - kelnos 3y ago
        Maybe so, but so what? If a medical professional tells me I should go to the hospital, I'm going to go. I'm not a doctor. I don't know how to diagnose injuries and illnesses beyond a very basic level.
        dylan604 3y ago
        That's exactly the point. People forget that EMS are not doctors. All they have is way more medical training than the average civilian. That's why it's a CYA for them. So the person that shows up to the ER as advised by EMS which later turns out to be a non-emergency is not the fault of the patient. Why punish them with unholy fees?
    - BobaFloutist 3y ago
      >perhaps they were referred to the ER by EMS for smoke inhalation. In that case part of the treatment they received was emergency evaluation for smoke inhalation. Just because they don't end up giving you drugs or doing surgery about it doesn't mean the assessment wasn't a valuable service.
  - kelnos 3y ago
    Maybe true, but as non-doctors, we are not necessarily qualified to self-diagnose the severity of a burn. We shouldn't be financially penalized for injuring ourselves and then -- in the stress and fear of the moment -- not being sure if our injury amounts to an emergency, or something much less urgent. Well, at least, a functioning health care system shouldn't penalize for that sort of thing. We don't really have that in the US.
- kelnos 3y ago
  Yup, been there, done that. Many years ago I'd gone to the ER for something that ultimately didn't require an ER visit. But I'm not a doctor. I was scared, and didn't know if I needed immediate treatment or not. Much better to err on the side of assuming I do. Insurance did try to deny coverage, but fortunately I appealed and won.
codegeek 3y ago
My 18 month old son got burned. I don't know who will not go to ER in this case no matter the burn intensity.

dghlsakjg 3y ago

You have no idea what this person was being seen for. It is fairly common for someone to be advised to seek emergency treatment out of precaution to ensure that a minor symptom is not indicative of a severe problem. For example dizziness can be a completely nothing-burger inner ear problem treated with a bunch of motions from youtube, or it can be a stroke. The ER exists to make that distinction. Part of all those logistics and resources should be used to shunt people to the correct treatment center, but liability suits and extreme profitability mean that the incentive is to treat them in the ER. Put into other terms, if you were hospital admin incentivized on billing, and could bill someone $5k instead of $160 for a non-urgent issue, wouldn't you? The fixed costs are the same, the ER is running 24/7 with a trauma team, might as well make it profitable.

BobaFloutist 3y ago
>You have no idea what this person was being seen for. I feel fairly comfortable assuming that they were being seen for a minor-to-moderate burn.
- dghlsakjg 3y ago
  That was the treatment received, but perhaps they were referred to the ER by EMS for smoke inhalation. I don't know either, but the broader point is that people are referred to the ED by medical professionals for seemingly minor issues all the time, and that the incentives are all lined up to treat stupid shit in the ER rather than have someone tell them to go somewhere that makes more sense.
  - dylan604 3y ago
    > That was the treatment received, but perhaps they were referred to the ER by EMS for... Isn't it CYA for any EMS to recommend you visiting the hospital, so they just say it to anyone. That allows them to later say that you failed to follow recommended advice.
    - kelnos 3y ago
      Maybe so, but so what? If a medical professional tells me I should go to the hospital, I'm going to go. I'm not a doctor. I don't know how to diagnose injuries and illnesses beyond a very basic level.
      - dylan604 3y ago
        That's exactly the point. People forget that EMS are not doctors. All they have is way more medical training than the average civilian. That's why it's a CYA for them. So the person that shows up to the ER as advised by EMS which later turns out to be a non-emergency is not the fault of the patient. Why punish them with unholy fees?
  - BobaFloutist 3y ago
    >perhaps they were referred to the ER by EMS for smoke inhalation. In that case part of the treatment they received was emergency evaluation for smoke inhalation. Just because they don't end up giving you drugs or doing surgery about it doesn't mean the assessment wasn't a valuable service.
- kelnos 3y ago
  Maybe true, but as non-doctors, we are not necessarily qualified to self-diagnose the severity of a burn. We shouldn't be financially penalized for injuring ourselves and then -- in the stress and fear of the moment -- not being sure if our injury amounts to an emergency, or something much less urgent. Well, at least, a functioning health care system shouldn't penalize for that sort of thing. We don't really have that in the US.
kelnos 3y ago
Yup, been there, done that. Many years ago I'd gone to the ER for something that ultimately didn't require an ER visit. But I'm not a doctor. I was scared, and didn't know if I needed immediate treatment or not. Much better to err on the side of assuming I do. Insurance did try to deny coverage, but fortunately I appealed and won.

codegeek 3y ago

My 18 month old son got burned. I don't know who will not go to ER in this case no matter the burn intensity.