Program Offers Shorter Wait Times For ER Visitors
LOS ANGELES (CBS) —Eight Southern California hospitals have joined a fee-based program that enables its participants to schedule an emergency room visit, it was reported Sunday.
Under the InQuickER program, participants pay $14.99 to $24.99 in order to make an appointment and avoid potentially longer waits, the Los Angeles Times reported.
"It does not interfere with treating true emergencies on a priority basis; and charging a modest fee discourages tampering," Jim Lott of the Southern California Hospital Association told the newspaper.
Since the service was started in 2006, executives at the Nashville-based company say 95 percent of patients have been treated on time.
"InQuickER users are not skipping the line in front of everyone else," company spokesman Chris Song said. "They're simply waiting somewhere other than the waiting room."
Locally, Lakewood Regional Medical Center and four other hospitals owned by Dallas-based Tenet Heathcare Corp. have added the system.
Hospital officials agreed to pay $3,000 a month for the service and charge patients $14.99, Lakewood Regional spokesman Patrick Houston said.
One appointment is available each hour and patients reserve an appointment at least two hours in advance.
Houston said the hope is that offering appointments will attract more patients with private insurance.
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