Quote:
Originally Posted by sallybowron
I wonder if the hospital could just say " you are not ER material due to your diagnosis, we can recommend an Urgent Care." TVRH actually had an urgent care at one time. If it was done with the patients care in mind, they should not be riled up. They do triage people first.
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Yes, they can absolutely do that. The Federal law requiring emergencies to be treated only requires that a patient be given minimal treatment that is needed to allow the patient to be transferred. Those that can travel on their own do not require any treatment in the ER. However, I believe that the ER does not want to reject patients because the reimbursement rate for "emergency" treatment is so much higher than normal treatment. For example, a sore throat treated by an internist in his office is one price, but the same sore throat treatment in the ER may be 3 or 4 times as much.
Another issue is that some hospitals have a contract with the local Government to treat indigents. The more they treat, the more money they can negotiate in the contract. I think a lot of this indigent care money comes from the Federal Government as a Medicaid grant, and the state controls it.