No one wants to go to the hospital. Finding yourself in one means that you are sick or injured, to visit someone who is sick or injured. There are more than 34 million admission to the hospital each year, and these admissions are expensive: the average daily cost is more than $ 2,800. Considering that the stay in the average hospital is 4.5 days – the total of almost $ 13,000 – it is important that you understand all the aspects of the care for which you pay.
Doctors, nurses and other staff members at any hospital without a doubt give you the best possible care – which is why they chose this profession. But hospitals are more than healing places – they are large sprawling companies. And like any other vast and sprawling business, communication is not always perfect, and misunderstandings and bad communications can lead to higher bills and unnecessary costs.
The “necessity” of pre-paids
Increasingly, when you show up at the hospital for surgery or a planned procedure, you will be asked to prepare a part or all of the cost. This often comes with a secondary order of pressure and intimidation – you may be brought to a room with a member of the hospital staff, who will pass the costs and ask you how much you would like to pay in advance. The involvement is that you have to pay something If you want to receive care, but you don’t do it must prepare anything. The hospital may be happy to leave you think you make. But this is a bad idea for a simple reason: your final bill can be much lower than the estimate, and get your money back is never easy.
Unnecessary treatments
Different hospital systems have different payment models for doctors, most combining a basic salary with various incentives. The incentive model can sometimes push doctors to carry out procedures, tests or even surgeries that are not entirely necessary, but they are generally presented to you as standard things that are simply has to do. Even other payment models that adjust remuneration depending on time, required skills and resources consumed during a procedure can encourage doctors to do unnecessary things in order to strengthen their salary.
Likewise, doctors are often happy to plan specialists to consult, especially if you have concerns or questions, which is good, unless these specialists are now presented to your bedside every day that you are in the hospital, not filling your bill unnecessarily. It is never a bad idea to ask your doctor if something is necessary, or if there are cheaper alternatives that deserve to be explored. And if a specialist appears just to say hello and ask how you go, question the need for continuous visits.
Entrance vs observation
You can assume that if you spend the night at the hospital, you have been admitted to the hospital. But “admission” is a specific scenario, which means that you are in the hospital in the care of a doctor. You could be in the hospital under “observation”, which means that you are considered an ambulatory even if you are In The hospital. Hospital staff may not specify your status and the difference may have a huge impact on your insurance coverage, so it is essential that you know with certainty.
Drugs
Hospitals often do stories about the drugs brought from the house. Their concern is legitimate: they need to know all the drugs you take, even supposedly harmless things like the over-the-counter pain relievers, so that they can avoid dangerous interactions and other complications. You can assume that you can only get these drugs from the hospital pharmacy, usually to a huge markup – and when we say huge, we mean $ 500 for a single Tylenol tablet – but you might be mistaken about it. You can often bring your own medication, but you need to consult your doctor and allow them, and the hospital pharmacy may request to examine your reserve to make sure that everything is correct.
What do you think so far?
Urgent care vs department of external consultations at the hospital
The emergence of urgent care centers offers an alternative to hospitals and emergencies. Urgent care centers are generally cheaper and less congested, so they can be a solid alternative to a hospital if you are not facing an emergency or serious state and you are looking to save a little time and money.
Unless, that is to say that urgent care is in fact a department of external consultations at the hospital (HOPD). HOPDs often resemble urgent care centers, but they are technically part of the hospital that administers them, and therefore, they will charge the hospital rate for everything. It can be easy to walk in a window assuming that you are in urgent care to realize that you have been charged hospital prices for services when you get the bill.
Price lists
Hospitals are now required to publish clear price lists for services and procedures, but these lists are often pure and simple fictions. Patients sometimes discover that the prices of their hospital bill do not correspond to the published listing, or that many charges are not at all inclusive in the public list. The revision of the price list before going to the hospital for a procedure is a great idea so that you can estimate your costs. But you must again review this list after obtaining the invoice – never assume that they do not correspond.
