If you have insurance, you need to educate and enhance your return on investment by knowing your policy.
We all have faced at some point in the decision to take ourselves, family members and or friends to the Emergency Room or not. It normally happens at the most inconvenient times to include outside the normal hours of your regular primary care physician. There are universal agreements in the medical community in what symptoms you should seek immediate medical attention at the nearest Emergency Room and or dialing 911. Some of the obvious ones are chest pains, shortness of breath, uncontrolled bleeding, loss of consciousness, sudden changes in vision, broken limbs, etc.
We all know about the rising costs of health care and one of the reasons is the overuse and misuse of Emergency Rooms for non-related emergencies. It is more expensive for Hospitals, Insurance Companies and most importantly “you”. You will pay more than at least four times the amount and higher depending on the non-emergency related illness, for treatment in an Emergency Room versus your regular Primary Care Provider and or an Urgent Care Clinic.
Hospitals, Private Doctors and Drug Stores have opened Urgent Care, Convenient Care, Extended Hour and Walk-In Clinics to enhance access for their patients and the public. As I mentioned, Hospitals, yes-even Hospitals are now investing money and resources in building these types of clinics either within the hospital and or in the communities they serve, to offset their costs from their own Emergency Rooms. You may even see one of these located next to an Emergency Room.
One Insurance Carriers’ Comparisons of Emergency Room Costs versus Urgent Care Costs for some of the most common occurrences.
Your Insurance Carrier is listing the new clinics you see popping up everywhere in their Provider Directories so you are able to locate them within and around your area and areas that you may be traveling. They also include toll free numbers for you to call to locate the nearest one to you and to help you if you need guidance in deciding whether to go to the Emergency Room or one of these centers. Some carriers are on the forefront of education and empowering their customers and the public. They are educating their customers to help both sides in optimizing the health care experience while ensuring both yours and their Return on Investment. Some truly believe that education and awareness will lower the cost to provide their products so that their existing customers and consumers will have less financial strains related to Health Care and Health Insurance. Building this type of relationship builds trust and they know if they can be on the forefront of health care education and awareness, then the consumer will look towards them when making a choice about Insurance Coverage.
This graphic is an example of one Insurance Carriers’ Comparisons of Emergency Room Costs versus Urgent Care Costs for some of the most common occurrences. The numbers are “averages” based on what the Hospitals Billed versus what the Urgent Cares Billed and what the member paid in both categories for their members in several different states. Depending on the specific coverage and further ancillary testing (Labs, X-Rays, etc.), the member costs for Emergency Room Visits and Urgent Care Visits could be higher.
“In 2007, close to 20 million Emergency Room Visits were considered non-urgent.”(CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics)
You are being given choices that “you” ultimately have the decision. Know the costs, know the hospitals, know the doctors, know the symptoms and know your policy. You have the power to control your health care costs and just might be able to help slow the cost to provide Health Care and Health Care Insurance. It is your Return on Investment.