I had an interesting experience a couple of weeks ago. I needed to take my mom into the emergency room for attention. While we were in the waiting room, a younger couple came in and wasn’t quite sure if they were at the right place for care. The woman from the couple needed to be seen as she suspected she had COVID -19.
The front desk asked her for insurance information, and due to a language barrier, she couldn’t present her ID card or give the person at the check-in desk any information regarding her plan.
The emergency check-in person explained the cost of an emergency room visit, and due to the cost of care, the couple chose to find help elsewhere.
That got me to thinking how important it is to know where to go for services before we need to access them. Here are a few tips that I would like to share with you today:
Tip #1: Have a copy of your medical card handy. If you don’t like carrying a hard copy of the card, add it to your smart phone. Most carriers today have an app that will allow you to pull up your ID card at your fingertips.
Tip #2: Know where the closest urgent care facility is to your home. Typically, urgent care is going to cost 1/10th of what an emergency room visit would cost. Again, most apps will allow you to simply press a button to offer directions to the closest provider or facility.
Tip #3: If you have a life-threatening emergency, that’s the time to go to an emergency room. When it’s the middle of the night and you can’t breathe, you need to know where the closest emergency room is for your care.
Knowing where and when to go for care can not only save time & money, but it can get you the care you need when you need it.
