Rising Emergency Room Costs Are a Major Concern for Patients

Rising Emergency Room Costs Are a Major Concern for Patients

The rising ER costs are a real concern for patients who are often required to pay huge bills for even minor treatments.

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Medical Transcription Services United States

The emergency room is one of the busiest departments and due to the increased inflow of patients, accurate and timely medical documentation is important. ER physicians utilize medical transcription services to record all patient information that is valuable throughout the treatment.

Emergency rooms provide life-saving treatmentfor patients

who do not have access to primary care. However, the costs incurred in the emergency room could be quite high.

The cost of emergency care has almost doubled in the last 8 years, according to a recent analysis by Vox. Let us consideran instance.

In 2016, Jessica Pell fainted and hit her head on a nearby table and injured her ear. She went to the emergency room at Hoboken University Medical Center where she was given an ice pack but did not receive any treatment ordiagnosis but got a bill for $5,751 by mail. That amount was for the ice pack and bandage. Pell discovered that the plastic surgeon who would see her was out of network for her health plan. Pell's insurance plan paid $862 but $4,989 was still left to pay. Vox's ER database project found many cases similar to this where patients had beencharged thousands of dollars.

Vox has collected more than 1000 emergency room bills submitted by readers in 50 states and Washington DC as part of aninvestigation into emergency room billing practices. Vox revealed that many patients submitted bills to the database for ER visits where theywere declined treatment because they understood that it would be out of network.

Patients had a common experience. ER treatment was quite expensive. When health plans don't pay, patients face huge bills. More disheartening is the fact that patients received huge bills even when they didn't receive treatment.

Carolyn Wallace's experience is an example. Her 4-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, had cut her forehead above her left eyebrow and was taken to the ER. They waited there for quite some time. The only medical care Elizabeth received in that time, Wallace says, was a physician assistant taking her temperature.Wallace ultimately decided to leave and seek treatment at a different urgent care clinic, where her daughter was seen quickly and received liquid stitches.

Then she started getting the bills for the emergency room: about $300 from the hospital and an additional $669 from the physician assistant who took Elizabeth’s temperature.

That fee was so exorbitant compared to the service provided to them that Wallace protested. Then, the hospital reversed the $300 bill, which was the “facility fee� or the

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price of entering the facility. If you ask the hospital executives, they affirm that it is with such fees that they are able to provide 24x7 services.

Vox has analysed these fees also and found that prices increased 89% between 2009 and 2015.

The possible reasons for huge ER expenses could be •

Lack of clarity across the board regarding how conditions are treated. This may contribute to a willingness to charge higher prices.

•

Patients are charged for everything, from the basic aspirin to the defibrillator use.

•

The ER has to be always kept ready in anticipation of any emergency, whether people come in or not. If most people are coming in for stitches, the cost of such procedures may be increased slightly.

A medical transcription company serving ER physiciansunderstands how hectic an ER setting is. It is stressful for both physicians and patients, and hiked up costs can be doubly stressful for patients.However, what hospital executives say also makes sense.

They have to be open round the clock, and be prepared to take in stroke victims, gunshot victims and other seriously injured and ill patients. Federal law mandates them to see everybody and get everybody back to stable condition. ER rooms are expensive to run, and some of the expenses may have to be met by patients.

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