How to Avoid Shock Sticker at the Emergency Room

Emergency care has always been expensive. Recently, though, a perfect storm of high-deductible insurance plans, and new insurers who are well-established in the past, and insurers who are based on retrospective review – that is, based on the patient's final diagnosis rather than the original complaint Has raised a question about the cost of a shock.

But people might be more likely to have a negative impact on their lives than they do. Depending on what the patient's symptoms are, it may be worth considering other options for same-day care. In order to increase services, they are: primary care, virtual care, retail clinics, emergency care centers, and emergency departments (E.Ds).

• Retail clinics: For unscheduled, in-person care, retail clinics – found in pharmacies, supermarkets and other retail locations – are the least expensive option. They are designed to provide quick care for minor problems like throats. As an example, CVS Minute Clinics typically charges $ 99 to $ 129. Care is a professionally trained physician.

• Urgent care: Urgent care centers such as Concentra and City offers care for illnesses and injuries that are not life threatening. Charges for simple complaints, such as sore throats, run $ 150 or more. Urgent care centers may be staffed by a physician assistant, a nurse practitioner or a physician.

• Emergency rooms: There are now three types of emergency departments: stand-alone E.D.s, E.Ds mini-hospital and traditional hospital E.D.s. All are staffed by board-certified emergency physicians. All are able to deliver lifesaving care. And all are similarly expensive. Stand-alone E.D.s are usually the quickest and most convenient. Traditional hospital E.Ds are best equipped to handle severe emergencies, such as major trauma.

Using health care, health insurers reimburse average of $ 956 for a sore throat, compared with $ 131 at an urgent care center. While the patient's financial responsibility varies from insurer to insurer, emergency room co-payments are urgently needed, and the bill would be higher than it would be at a retail clinic or urgent care center.

But cost can not be the sole concern. Potentially serious problems require a visit to the emergency room. For example, adults with chest pain – particularly those with a history of smoking cigarettes, diabetes or other cardiac risk factors – should be evaluated in an emergency room. Visiting one of the other people's risks turning into a bill. It also costs a delay in order to pay for your lifesaving care.

How to know where to go? The chart shown above, adapted from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, provides cost-effective suggestions for the most common causes. Of course, the chart offers only general guidelines. If possible, consult their primary care physician.

Checking with one's insurer before visiting the emergency room can be critical for avoiding sticker shock. High deductible, high co-payment plans on the onus to the patient to choose wisely.

While high medical costs can not be avoided altogether,