Ever wonder where you should go when you or your kids get sick after hours?
Many turn to the emergency room, but healthcare experts warn that's not always the best choice.
“33 million unnecessary ER visits every year,” said Dr. Nicole Saint Clair, Executive Medical Director for Regence.
Saint Clair says there are many other ways to get the care you need that don’t include a potentially costly trip to the emergency room.
She said, “The best first step is to talk to your primary care provider.”
Plan ahead if you can and ask where they advise you to go if something comes up – particularly at night or on the weekends.
“When in doubt, your health plan has a 24-hour advice line. So, you can call and speak to an advice nurse anytime day or night and you can say this is what I’ve got going on. I’m trying to figure out what I should do. And what they’ll tell you is there are a couple options,” said Saint Clair.
Options like urgent care or telehealth, extended hours at doctor’s office and more.
“Emergency room is great when you’re having a severe concern, you’re afraid you’re experiencing a life-threatening issue and you need to be admitted to the hospital. But for most of the problems that we have – upper respiratory colds, upset stomach issues, cuts, bumps, bruises, rashes, pink eye, bladder infections – all the kind of common things that we experience, most of those do not need an emergency room to be treat,” said Saint Clair.
To put it in perspective – a typical urgent care visit will cost you about $300, while a typical emergency room visit is about $1,200.
Visiting the emergency room is potentially “The most expensive way to treat your problem,” said Saint Clair.
Utah Ranks fourth lowest on the abuse of its emergency rooms, but we can still do better.
“If you don’t have to go to the ER, you’re saving yourself a huge hassle with a very long wait and a very expensive bill that you maybe didn’t need,” said Saint Clair.
