How Coloradans are using these new facilities and the potential cost implications
JULY 2016 – Free Standing Emergency Departments (FSED) are designed to provide similar levels of emergency care as their hospital-based ED counterparts. i Consistent with national trends, Colorado’s FSEDs are primarily located in affluent suburban areas relatively close to urgent care centers and traditional emergency departments. ii Proponents of FSEDs explain that these facilities provide communities essential access to emergency care. Opponents argue that due to their stand-alone buildings and similarity to non-emergency facilities, it is possible for consumers to mistake an FSED for an urgent care center and wind up with an unexpectedly large bill.
i
UC Health, as quoted to The Denver Channel. (2016). Trip to Freestanding Emergency Room for the Flu Ends with a $5,000 Bill. Denver 7 ABC News. Retrieved May
ii
Health Affairs; http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/31/4/827.full.pdf+htm
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