More HEMS dysfunction

[Carlos Danger]

Woman Dies Before Air Ambulance Arrives, Still Charged $25k

 

[gotbeerz001]

Oy...


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[Summit]

The HEMS service I know costs more like $500 to take off and another $500 to fly to you, not $25,000. It is getting in the machine that costs big dollars.

If they didn't treat and transport, where is the extra $24,000 coming from?

How do you justify charging a 5 figure base rate to simply fly to a scene?

I'd think a lawyer could do something to make that bill go away... unless the newsies aren't mentioning some 4+ interventions by the flight crew like putting in bilateral CTs and pericardiocentesis

Also, extra sads for the victim being killed by an emergent ambulance.

 

[Carlos Danger]

Each of the programs that I worked for charged something like a $2,500 "base fee", plus mileage. One of them itemized equipment and drugs, the others did not. None of them charged anything if we didn't transport, even if we worked the patient at the scene. No transport = no bill. Not that I think it'd be wrong to bill reasonably for services provided at the scene; IME those actually tended to be the calls where you did the most interventions and used the most stuff. All of the programs I worked for billed insurance and would ask the patient to pay something if they were uninsured, but they were also quick to write it off if the patient couldn't pay, rather than harassing and suing them.

The thing is, I don't think this type of thing is unusual at all. Most of the stories aren't quite as outrageous as this one, but it isn't hard at all to find stories in the media about people receiving massive bills - often for short transports that sound like they weren't even remotely clinically necessary - that the company will not discharge and often results in real financial hardship for the family, even bankruptcy in some cases. I don't know how anyone can work for a corporation that does that to people.

 

[Summit]

I don't know how anyone can work for a corporation that does that to people.

They probably do their best to be unaware of it or actively ignore it because flying is neato...

 

[CANMAN]

Woman Dies Before Air Ambulance Arrives, Still Charged $25k

No surprises here. PHI and Air Methods are famous for their ridiculous billing and collections schemes. PHI nearly lost a major contract with a hospital around where I live for this type of crap. Sad...

 

[Old Tracker]

Wonder what the medics in the ambulance that hit her were doing while the helo was enroute or if they were injured too.

 

[SandpitMedic]

Ouch