Make an appointment to the ER for $15

[Antibodies]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Brookwood Medical Center offers emergency room appointments online

Published: Thursday, January 27, 2011, 5:30 AM

By Stan Diel -- The Birmingham News


Link: http://blog.al.com/living-news/2011/01/brookwood_medical_center_offer.html

Similar story:Lakewood medical center taking online emergency room reservations
http://www.presstelegram.com/breakingnews/ci_17216122

 

[Aesculapius]

Isn't that called a "clinic"?

 

[deleted6669]

I worked at a place that did that. the problem was folks didn't show up on time, they double booked appt times, etc .
if I wanted that kind of practice I would be full time in primary care.
I quit that job.

 

[docB]

There have been some places locally that have tried this and one of my hospital's admins was pushing for this. Our main concern has been billing for an ED visit on a patient who came in with an appointment. There is some language in the CMS regs about ED care being delivered on an "unscheduled" visit.

 

[Tiger26]

Should work pretty well given one's ability to predict the timing of any one of a variety of "emergencies"--MI, head bleed, complete and crowning pregnancy, MVC, GSW, fish hook in the finger, unsuccessful foreign body retrieval, kidney stone, . . .

 

[Tiger26]

Of course, the vast majority of our patients ironically end up in the ER specifically because they're not very good at making appointments in the first place . . . .

 

[WerdSalid]

They day this is even suggested to be implemented at any location where I am employed is the day I apply for a residency of a different specialty

 

[alwaysaangel]

They had this at a place I interviewed at. Apparently it worked pretty well for them. Obviously it was still an ED in that people with more acute issues were seen first.

But it was really for the people who needed treatment but were the ones who would be sitting in the waiting room for an hour before seen (bad cut in hand with possible foreign bodies, recurrent N/V, etc) so that they could wait in the comfort of their own home and then show up in the ED when there "appointment" or really just place in line came up. Cleared up the waiting room and made it more pleasant for patients...apparently people like it.

 

[The White Coat Investor]

They had this at a place I interviewed at. Apparently it worked pretty well for them. Obviously it was still an ED in that people with more acute issues were seen first.

But it was really for the people who needed treatment but were the ones who would be sitting in the waiting room for an hour before seen (bad cut in hand with possible foreign bodies, recurrent N/V, etc) so that they could wait in the comfort of their own home and then show up in the ED when there "appointment" or really just place in line came up. Cleared up the waiting room and made it more pleasant for patients...apparently people like it.

Absolutely, I think this is a great idea for the fast track portion of the department. It's not like an "appointment" where you call the week before. It's like a reservation. You call at 4 pm and they say, show up at 6:45 and we'll get you right back. If triaged to the fast track, you get worked in around the reservations, just like at a restaurant. You could attempt it with the more acute side, with the caveat that at times they'd be bumped for a more acute patient. But the truth of the matter is that 90% of the time I'm seeing patients in the order of arrival rather than by acuity. There simply aren't that many patients where a few minutes matter, and our wait times aren't long for anyone. Most chest pain, syncope, dyspnea etc can wait for you to finish doing an H&P and writing orders on a vag bleeder. Not all, of course, but most. Besides, I'd rather the staff was in there getting the EKG/blood draw/IV in those first few minutes. It's much more efficient to get all the tests cooking and then have me do my H&P on a chest painer. I mean really, the guy's 60 and he's having chest pain. Everyone knows you're going to order a CBC, BMP, CXR, EKG, and enzymes. Why should they wait for you to do so before carrying them out?

 

[deleted109597]

Why should they wait for you to do so before carrying them out?

Because it's a "teaching hospital", and residents wouldn't "learn" the chest pain order set if someone other than them clicked the button.
Just like you learn by pushing a patient to the scanner.




Satire.

 

[deleted65604]

I worked at a place that did that. the problem was folks didn't show up on time, they double booked appt times, etc .
if I wanted that kind of practice I would be full time in primary care.
I quit that job.

What is the difference between a physician's assistant and a physician associate? I've never heard the phrase, "physician associate".

 

[jbar]

Some of the PAs prefer associate. It's the same thing, but they argue that the title assistant implies they stand there next to the doc rather than see patients on their own with oversight. I'm fine calling them associate. I'll save my energy for fighting the DNPs who want to be called doctor.

 

[erin682]

This just makes me laugh. This hospital is in my town. Now they'll get all the bs complaints that are willing/able to pay their bills and we'll get the bs complaints that call 911 for the free ride to the hospital. Awesome.

 

[The White Coat Investor]

This just makes me laugh. This hospital is in my town. Now they'll get all the bs complaints that are willing/able to pay their bills and we'll get the bs complaints that call 911 for the free ride to the hospital. Awesome.

Exactly. I love taking care of B.S. complaints that pay their bills. "Nope, you're going to be okay. That'll be $300 please."

 

[NinerNiner999]

This is an interesting concept, and could actually make the ED physician's job easier and less stressful. Instead of sorting through a rack of unknown patients trying to find the emergency, the non-emergent patients identify themselves as such and leave the emergency rack for what it was intended to be. Naturally, this may not work well in high-acuity locations, but for the typical 70-80% discharge rates, it could be well done. Interesting...

 

[13770]

How does the 15- apply to co- pay? Is it deducted or an added expense. It would seem people would want it applied. An admin person sent me a similar link today. Wonder if this is catching on? Hard to see it in a bad payor market, or maybe something (with a reservation) is better than nothing.