The cost of emergency care

Kaiser Health News reported on a vast pricing difference for two CT scans for the same patient in two different settings: in an imaging center and in an emergency room. The patient, on a high-deductible plan, owed $268 for the scan in the imaging center and $3,394 for the scan in the emergency room. The company owning the medical center that had the emergency room stated that care done in the emergency room context is more expensive because of the staffing and infrastructure requirements to provide emergency medical care for a wide variety of circumstances.

To the extent that someone has to go to the emergency room (which wasn't strictly necessary in this case, although it was advised by a nurse practitioner), the patient really doesn't have much choice. For example, a patient might be incapacitated or suffering from a time-sensitive condition like a stroke. For other cases, however, enrollment in high-deductible health plans and awareness of these high prices may cause some patients to shift their behavior. Shift in patient behavior might end up supporting less traditional venues such as urgent care centers.