the Cost of Emergency Room Visits for Illness

Admission to the Emergency Room for pain in my chest. I have a pre-existing heart condition so they hurried me through Triage and got me a bed in very short order, despite the fact that I told them my pain felt like it was in the muscles of my sternum. I guess they have to quickly rule out worst case scenarios. I knew I wasn't having a heart attack. I was in so much pain that I knew I'd be unable to sleep. Tests done: Blood draw, urine sample, chest X-ray, Electrocardiogram. I left with a prescription for narcotic pain meds after being there less than 3 hours. I've been in Emergency Rooms before and that is a fairly speedy time frame. I was surprised when the bill came and wasn't over a thousand dollars. I think this is the first time I've been to the Emergency Room and not had a bill that exceeded a thousand dollars.

The doctor was knowledgeable and had very good bedside manner. He was curious about my heart condition since it is genetic and a little on the rare side. The nurses and techs were very nice as well. They were efficient in completing the tests. Overall, as good of an Emergency Room visit as it gets.

When an X-ray tech asks if you're pregnant don't say "oh I hope not!" They don't find it funny and refuse to take an X-ray until you take a pregnancy test. The best tip when dealing with a situation that involves going to an Emergency Room is don't panic and be very patient as well as polite. You get really good service if you're a pleasure to deal with.