Posted on Jan 25, 2022
The doctor didn't show up, but the hospital ER still billed $1,012
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https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/01/24/ [login to see] /the-doctor-didnt-show-up-but-the-hospital-er-still-billed-1-012
Martand Bhatt's parents weren't sure he needed immediate medical care when the energetic toddler burned his hand on the kitchen stove one April morning.
Dhaval Bhatt, Martand's father, said he'd been warned about hospital emergency rooms after he arrived in the U.S. from his native India.
"People always told me to avoid the ER in America unless you are really dying," said Bhatt, a research scientist and pharmacologist at Washington University in St. Louis.
But after seeing a photo, the family's pediatrician directed them the next day to the local children's hospital.
Dhaval Bhatt was traveling at the time. So Martand's mother, Mansi Bhatt, took their son to the hospital and was sent to the emergency room. A nurse took the toddler's vitals and looked at the wound. She said a surgeon would be in to inspect it more closely.
When the surgeon didn't appear after more than an hour, Mansi Bhatt took her son home. The hospital told her to make a follow-up appointment with a doctor, which turned out to be unnecessary because the burn healed quickly.
Martand Bhatt's parents weren't sure he needed immediate medical care when the energetic toddler burned his hand on the kitchen stove one April morning.
Dhaval Bhatt, Martand's father, said he'd been warned about hospital emergency rooms after he arrived in the U.S. from his native India.
"People always told me to avoid the ER in America unless you are really dying," said Bhatt, a research scientist and pharmacologist at Washington University in St. Louis.
But after seeing a photo, the family's pediatrician directed them the next day to the local children's hospital.
Dhaval Bhatt was traveling at the time. So Martand's mother, Mansi Bhatt, took their son to the hospital and was sent to the emergency room. A nurse took the toddler's vitals and looked at the wound. She said a surgeon would be in to inspect it more closely.
When the surgeon didn't appear after more than an hour, Mansi Bhatt took her son home. The hospital told her to make a follow-up appointment with a doctor, which turned out to be unnecessary because the burn healed quickly.
The doctor didn't show up, but the hospital ER still billed $1,012
Posted from npr.org
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Posted 3 y ago
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