r/HospitalBills • u/Versatilitee • 3d ago

Help! Can someone explain what I should do.

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I recently payed a visit to the emergency room as my face had swollen up from a tooth abscess and I was scared of going septic. I was brought into a room, sat in a chair, had my vitals checked, prescribed an antibiotic and released. I am uninsured and received my bill. Which I’ve attached. I asked for an itemized receipt and this is what I’m getting.

Can someone please tell me why it’s $2000 for a vital check and a prescription? Is there anything I can do to get this lowered since I’m self pay? I’m really just trying to gauge my options here as I don’t want this sent to collections and will pay what I have to but this seems outrageous for what was done.

Thanks in advance

174 Upvotes

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12

u/fordtuff 3d ago

Next time only go to the ER for an emergency

2

u/Bitter-Breath-9743 3d ago

Swollen face can equal compromised airway… I had a friend who he was admitted to the hospital because her face got so swollen. She had to be treated before the abscess could be addressed

-3

u/Gilmoregirlin 3d ago

Sepsis is not an emergency?

10

u/fordtuff 3d ago

They weren't septic. They were scared of becoming septic. Which at most is an urgent care problem.

5

u/Low-Information-5985 3d ago edited 3d ago

my mom went to the ER for some considerably normal stomach pain because she was worried about an infection she had no symptoms of. within 10 minutes of getting there, she had a fever that they couldn't break and went into emergency surgery for an abcess that nearly bursted and killed her.

She ended up with an ileostomy bag and a drain for 6 months before having to go through a reversal surgery.

You can never be too careful when it comes to an internal infection and do not try to convince anyone else otherwise.

edit: she almost went fully septic and died. she was feeling fine not even 5 hours before experiencing stomach pain. I almost lost my mom. None of you understand how fast this can happen.

0

u/fordtuff 3d ago

Your mother needed an ER and I'm very certain there's more to the story. If she went to an urgent care, they probably would have sent her to the ER anyway. For every one of your mother theres probably 200 people with belly pain that don't need to be at an ER. I do understand. I've worked emergency for 10 years.

0

u/Low-Information-5985 3d ago

There is not more to the story. She had stomach pain, went to the hospital, and it turned out to be an abcess that was infected. Something to do with a routine colonoscopy the month prior where they clipped off some polyps. Would you like to see the family groupchat thread the whole week she was there, and the after visit summaries? Good Heavens.

0

u/fordtuff 3d ago

Why would I want more from the low-information family? Ya those medical records would be great tho

1

u/AloneCalendar2143 2d ago

Oh, how clever you are.

1

u/Low-Information-5985 3d ago

I'm sorry for whatever is going on in your life to feel the need to get online and start being a complete arse to people for absolutely no reason at all. I really am.

My username was very obviously picked by Reddit; you could've at least gone to my profile to craft a better insult.

2

u/Missing_Leg 3d ago

Never will go to urgent care for a infection again last two times ended up in the er then emergency surgery

3

u/Gilmoregirlin 3d ago

And they knew that how?

3

u/jhendricks31 3d ago

Oh, I don’t know, a little bit of research goes a long way. If you’re intelligent enough to know what sepsis is, then you’re probably smart enough to look up symptoms and take your own temperature, measure your heart rate, etc.

Or, and hear me out, don’t let a toothache turn into this in the first place.

1

u/tcpWalker 3d ago

I mean, I know doctors who have lost parents to sepsis because real hospitals were bad. Urgent care can be worse. Depends how big the problem is where you go and because of the way healthcare is structured you have to choose between risk your life or go broke.

-1

u/Gilmoregirlin 3d ago

Ahh so all those years of schooling that medical professionals go through can be solved by Google. Good to know!

0

u/jhendricks31 3d ago

lol. Chances of becoming septic from dental infections isn’t zero, but it’s low. I see people who let them go for months and develop abscesses that go to the OR but still aren’t septic.

1

u/originalsimulant 3d ago

bro these idiots will jam the er’s 24/7 if ‘free healthcare’ ever becomes the standard in the US.

1

u/AloneCalendar2143 2d ago

Untreated dental infections can affect the heart with very serious long term damage. There are other disasters besides sepsis.

1

u/jhendricks31 2d ago

Literally no one has suggested letting it go untreated.

2

u/Gilmoregirlin 3d ago

Sure but do you want to be that person? I mean average people don't have the skill set to make those judgment calls.

1

u/jhendricks31 3d ago

So what, go to the er any time you have any illness? You can’t make the call whether it’s sepsis or not right?

1

u/Downtown-Study-8436 3d ago

Crazy straw man. No one is saying go to the ER for any illness. They went to the ER because their entire face swelled up.

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1

u/Old_Draft_5288 3d ago

Honestly, if you’re uninsured the last thing you wanna do is show up at the ER unless you absolutely have to be there.

There are tons of clinics and urgent care that would’ve triaged it. This is really common knowledge.

I think they let their fear get the better of them, though like all things if they had just gone to see an inexpensive clinic earlier, it probably could’ve been solved with some antibiotics.

1

u/Versatilitee 3d ago

You are correct but I had actually went to an urgent care the day before and was prescribed antibiotics. Over night my condition worsened so I assumed the worst and figured it was time to go to the er. I didn’t feel well and thought this was the best course of action.

1

u/jhendricks31 3d ago

The patient wasn’t septic…

2

u/Low-Information-5985 3d ago

By the time you are diagnosed with sepsis, it's usually too late anyway. If it's even suspected, you go to the ER. literally ask any doctor.

2

u/jhendricks31 3d ago

No it isn’t “too late” most of the time unless you have significant comorbidities or are elderly. Mortality rate is under 25% in young adults and that’s only counting the hospitalized patients. While that’s still a high mortality rate, it’s a far cry from “most of the time”

2

u/jhendricks31 3d ago

Suspected based on what? You could “suspect” sepsis with any infection.

1

u/Low-Information-5985 3d ago

Internal injury. Bowels, mouth, etc. I specified that in my comment. Also, if you look further than the AI analysis, it's about 20%-50% average mortality rate and late stage is almost certainly fatal (sepsis can progress within hours or even minutes) according to nih.gov

1

u/Gilmoregirlin 3d ago

And the patient knows that how?

0

u/drgrouchy 3d ago

You should have went to urgent care instead of an emergency room.

3

u/Gilmoregirlin 3d ago

Maybe urgent care was not open?

-3

u/BrandyFL 3d ago

There are always open urgent cares.

3

u/Gilmoregirlin 3d ago

There are no 24 hour urgent cares near me. And I’m in a city. I can’t imagine smaller towns!

0

u/ninjacereal 3d ago

I doubt OPs toothache was rapid onset.

1

u/Versatilitee 3d ago

It actually kind of was though, the tooth had bothered me here and there but never anything severe. Just minor aches, I had seen a dentist a couple weeks prior where I was prescribed antibiotics antibiotic to prepare for extraction or a root canal. Fast forward I woke up on a Sunday in excruciating pain and that’s when I went to the urgent care. They prescribed me antibiotics and I drove home 5 hours from Chicago that night. I woke up on the next day face as large as could be and went to the ER.

1

u/montvious 3d ago

The Dunning-Kruger effect is alive and well!

1

u/Own-Emphasis4551 3d ago

Many smaller (and even some medium-sized) towns do not have this option, unfortunately.

1

u/poopoomergency4 2d ago

"thanks for coming to urgent care. you might have sepsis so go to an emergency room. that'll be $300"

-2

u/Comntnmama 3d ago

Urgent requires payment upfront. It's a barrier to care for a lot of people.