As has long been known, most U.S. hospital emergency departments overcharge patients. And now a new study says that 62 percent of emergency-medicine clinicians can’t accurately estimate costs of care.
The study, which appeared in the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, found that only 38 percent of the 441 emergency medicine professionals surveyed (physicians, physician assistants, residents and nurse practitioners) accurately estimated the costs for three common conditions represented by three cases seen in emergency departments:
A 35-year-old woman with abdominal pain, a 57-year-old man with labored breathing and a 7-year-old boy with a sore throat.
The authors of the study conclude:
“Healthcare professionals in the ED continue to have an inadequate understanding of the costs associated with care routinely provided in the ED. Education concerning cost, such as through the computerized physician order entry, is likely to improve efficiency and decrease costs to the patients as well as the healthcare system overall. ”
To read the study, please hit this link.
