HCA Begins Upfront Payment Policy In ER, 26% of Non-Emergency Patients Decline Care

In 2011, Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), the nation's largest private operator of health care facilities, imposed a $150 fee for low-acuity emergency department patients in 2011. HCA emergency departments screen each patient to assess the level of acuity for the conditions for which the patient is seeking care. About five percent of the six million emergency department visits in 2011 were determined to be non-urgent, representing about 314,000 patients. Of those 314,000, about 230,000 (74%) paid the fee and remained in the emergency department to receive care and 80,000 (26%) left. The . . .