{"id":409,"date":"2013-05-24T14:36:06","date_gmt":"2013-05-24T14:36:06","guid":{"rendered":"\/articles\/?p=409"},"modified":"2025-07-08T17:53:25","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T17:53:25","slug":"the-emergency-room-breakdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.online-health-insurance.com\/articles\/analysis\/emergency-room-cost-breakdown","title":{"rendered":"The Emergency Room Breakdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

Something is wrong.\u00a0 Your head hurts, but not like a headache.\u00a0 It\u2019s been hurting all day and it\u2019s actually starting to affect your decision-making and distort your vision.\u00a0 Do I need more sleep?\u00a0 Am I dehydrated?\u00a0 After a quick browse on WebMD you cannot seem to pinpoint the symptoms.\u00a0 As your mind begins to wander to worst-case scenarios, you decide it best to drive yourself to the emergency room and have an expert take a look but you don\u2019t have a ride.\u00a0 This article explores everything from the ambulance ride to the final bill.<\/p>\n

To Visit, or Not to Visit:<\/h1>\n

It might be easy to error on the side of caution.\u00a0 And while nobody is going to tell you to avoid the emergency room if you feel it necessary<\/a>, consider that in 2011, more than 18 billion dollars could have been saved if patients experiencing problems that were considered non-urgent<\/em> used preventive health care and not leaned on Emergency Rooms to care for them.\u00a0 Here is a helpful guide to determine whether to visit an Emergency Room or an Urgent Care Facility<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Ambulance Ride:<\/h1>\n

The Federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (as well as many others) advise calling an ambulance when any other method of transportation is inadvisable.\u00a0 Whatever the situation, ambulance rides are sometimes necessary and can save a life.\u00a0 \u00a0According to the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 15% of all emergency room visitors arrived by an ambulance and 43% of all hospital admissions originate in an emergency room.\u00a0 Open 24 hours a day 7 days a week 365 days a year, neither the emergency room nor the ambulance have the luxury for a break.<\/p>\n

If you ever find yourself in an ambulance, here are some important tips<\/a>. And you should also be happy to note that ambulance drivers pass rigorous certification examinations<\/a> and will know how to provide immediate life-saving care in the event of an emergency.\u00a0\u00a0 Now, if you\u2019ve made the decision to take an ambulance, don\u2019t be taken by surprise at the costs that show up later<\/a>.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Ambulance rides do not operate under the same fare system as taxi-cabs or rickshaws.\u00a0 No, this potentially life-saving lift can cost up to $900 in some states.\u00a0 Find out if your health insurance will cover your ambulance ride<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Waiting Room:<\/h1>\n

Waiting in an emergency room is painful for more reasons than one. First, there is the obvious presence of people in discomfort ranging from mild to agonizing: agonizing gets seen first. You can see the 10 most common reasons for an ER visit here. Then there is the wait itself. Billboards promoting average ER wait-times can be seen at 25 minutes, well below the CDC statistics putting the average wait times nation-wide at 58.1 minutes. In a study by Press Ganey, a consultant for around 10,000 health care facilities, the average time spent for a visit to an emergency room was 4 hours and 3 minutes.
\nHere are three tips to avoiding busy wait times at the ER:
\n1. Don\u2019t Get a Case of the Mondays: Mondays are the busiest day. People that become ill over the weekend will generally wait until Monday to visit the ER because\u2026well\u2026they don\u2019t want to spend their weekend in the ER! If at all possible, avoid getting hurt or sick on a Monday (we know how ridiculous that is).<\/p>\n

2. Call your doctor while you\u2019re driving to the ER: Sometimes it helps to have a physician in your corner or in the ear of the ER front desk. They can better explain how you\u2019re feeling and speak hospital language. It hurts over here isn\u2019t quite going to get you to the front of the line.<\/p>\n

3. Don\u2019t Leave: If you\u2019ve been waiting a while and are getting frustrated. Don\u2019t leave. This isn\u2019t Denny\u2019s where you can just leave the lobby to go home and make yourself some pancakes. If your condition has changed or if you feel you have been waiting too long and are getting concerned, ask to speak with the nurse in charge or the shift supervisor.<\/p>\n

4. Here are some more helpful tips when in the Emergency Room.<\/p>\n

Seeking Medical Attention:<\/h1>\n

The time finally comes when the doctor or nurse is ready to see you.\u00a0 Prior to ever finding yourself in the Emergency Room, it might be a good idea to review your health insurance premiums<\/a>, deductibles<\/a>, and co-pays<\/a>.\u00a0 It might save you a great deal of money in the long run and impact the decisions you make during these moments of medical attention.\u00a0 You will be evaluated by a nurse and registered as a hospital patient.\u00a0 At this time you will provide medical information and consent for medical treatment.<\/p>\n

Treatment:<\/h1>\n

Your doctor will review your medical history (see previous) and may order additional tests.\u00a0 There may be consultations with other doctors, nurses on staff and other specialists.\u00a0 It truly is a team effort to make sure you\u2019re taken care of, properly diagnosed, and cared for.\u00a0 According to accounts at Riverside Hospital<\/a>, once you are stabilized and emergency treatment is rendered, a decision is made to admit you to the hospital or send you home with instructions for following care.\u00a0 It\u2019s no choose your own adventure<\/em> novel, but the staff is working in your best interest to keep you healthy and safe.<\/p>\n

Discharge:<\/h1>\n

You may have prescriptions and instructions for the days and weeks following your visit.\u00a0 This is the time to ask questions<\/span>. \u00a0You have the full face-to-face attention of a Doctor.\u00a0 Take advantage and ask them now.\u00a0 It is important that you understand discharge instructions fully.\u00a0 One CBS news study found that only 49% of discharge patients could report the treatment plan back<\/a> when quizzed.\u00a0 Write down the plan, record it, send yourself a voicemail; anything to help you remember the steps after ER.<\/p>\n

Admitted To The Hospital:<\/h1>\n

If you are requiring specialized or extended care, you are admitted to the hospital and moved to a room as quickly as possible.\u00a0 Although this hospital survival guide<\/a> is meant for planned admittance to a hospital (not so lucky for ER patients), the information is still useful.<\/p>\n

The Wonderful Land of Medical Bills:<\/h1>\n

A recent study showed that the average cost of a visit to the ER for over 8,000 patients across the U.S. was $2,168 (The Atlantic<\/a>).\u00a0 Although hospitals cannot legally deny treatment of a patient in need of immediate care, they do have the right to vigorously collect fees resulting from the stay and medical bills can linger for a lifetime<\/a>.\u00a0 What you can certainly expect is the unexpected.\u00a0 Emergency room costs are bafflingly unpredictable. A trip to the emergency room for a strange headache, for example, can run anywhere from 15 bucks to $10,000 in fees<\/a>!\u00a0 If you\u2019re trying to avoid fees, the first trick is to stay out of the emergency room, but only if you safely can. Hopefully this article has helped articulate what to expect in a visit before, during and after a visit to the emergency room. Just remember to stay smart and stay safe!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Something is wrong. Your head hurts, but not like a headache. It\u2019s been hurting all day and it\u2019s actually starting to affect your decision-making and distort your vision.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.online-health-insurance.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.online-health-insurance.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.online-health-insurance.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.online-health-insurance.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.online-health-insurance.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=409"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.online-health-insurance.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":694,"href":"https:\/\/www.online-health-insurance.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409\/revisions\/694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.online-health-insurance.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.online-health-insurance.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.online-health-insurance.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}