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by fencepost 2553 days ago
Not a medical professional, but if you're positive that the patient is going to be admitted then bypassing the ER may make a lot of financial sense for the patient. Going to the ER is expensive, so moving directly to admitting cuts a lot of cost.

If you don't believe me and are in the US, call your insurance company and ask "what's my out of pocket if I'm admitted to the hospital for 1 night going through the ER vs going through an urgent care center?" There's a pretty good chance the ER route will be at least $1000 higher.
1 comments
arkades 2553 days ago
Urgent Care centers do not have hospital privileges and cannot admit to the hospital. If they think you need hospitalization, they send you to the ER.

Bypassing the ER is a good way to have your insurer try and deny coverage, since you’re giving them a plausible case that it wasn’t an emergency.

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fencepost 2553 days ago
Urgent Care centers do not have hospital privileges and cannot admit to the hospital.

That surprises me since (at least in my area of the Chicago suburbs) all of the urgent care centers I've seen are associated with hospitals or hospital networks. I have no experience with their admitting capabilities though, having never actually used one.

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