Validated parking

[strongboy2005]

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I think emergency departments should start charging $5 for parking. Parking is validated by the emergency physician if the patient had an emergency condition.

This would be a sort of "back-door" way to have a co-pay at the ED without directly calling it that (which, I assume, is against EMTALA). There is a reason insurance plans have co-pays: they decrease utilization from members of society who have nothing better to do than to go to the doctor all the time for every complaint.

Would charging for parking (i.e., posted parking rates and then charge patients as they leave) violate EMTALA?

 

[iceman77_7]

I think emergency departments should start charging $5 for parking. Parking is validated by the emergency physician if the patient had an emergency condition.

This would be a sort of "back-door" way to have a co-pay at the ED without directly calling it that (which, I assume, is against EMTALA). There is a reason insurance plans have co-pays: they decrease utilization from members of society who have nothing better to do than to go to the doctor all the time for every complaint.

Would charging for parking (i.e., posted parking rates and then charge patients as they leave) violate EMTALA?

All the EDs in academic centers I've seen charge for parking. The problem with charging for parking is that the parking fee doesn't really go to the hospital, it goes to ACE or Standard parking or whoever is administering the lot.

 

[docB]

It's an interesting idea but it will never really fly. One unintended consequence would be to cause even more people to call an ambulance unnecessarily. You also get stuck with what to do when people just refuse to pay. Refuse to let them leave until they bail out their car? Not really viable and would lead to violent confrontations. Send them a bill? We know what they do with their bills.

Many hospital admins don't want to do this because it will annoy the paying patients and make them more likely to go elsewhere.

The sad fact is that most of society is happy with the way things are now. They want to be able to go to the ultimate quick care for whatever they want. They want to believe that there is some mechanism to take care of everyone who won't take care of themselves that doesn't raise their taxes. The change that will fix all this won't come from some incremental change at the ED or hospital level. It will have to be legislative.

 

[erin682]

My hospital has paid parking and we don't validate it. Patients get around it by calling an ambulance or pulling up to the pay booths and refuse to pay or claim to have no money to pay. They generally block traffic trying to get out of the garages for 5-10 minutes while they haggle with the parking people and then are universally let out without paying. Either was I still get screwed because I share a parking garage with them and regularly get stuck behind them trying to get out.