Freestanding emergency departments aim to improve access and convenience for consumers. However, one prominent Ohio physician says the standalone EDs cropping up can blindside patients with large medical bills and ultimately contribute to rising healthcare costs, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
"More people on high-deductible health plans ... are just going to get pounded with the higher cost of care," said William Wulf, MD, CEO of Central Ohio Primary Care, the largest physician-owned primary-care medical group in the nation, according to the report. "If you're an employer [paying the healthcare bills] this isn't creating value."
Since 2010, five freestanding EDs have opened in Ohio's Franklin County and surrounding counties, and two more will open in Delaware County early next year. This month, Columbus, Ohio-based Mount Carmel disclosed plans to partner with Lewisville, Texas-based Adeptus Health to open freestanding EDs throughout central Ohio, according to the report.
Part of the problem stems from confusion among consumers about the type of facility they visit when seeking medical care.
"We've seen across Ohio as these centers have popped up, there's a lot of confusion," said Miranda Motter, president and CEO of the Ohio Association of Health Plans, according to the report. "Sometimes consumers go to those facilities thinking that they are urgent care centers, and don't realize they are a stand-alone emergency department."
Dr. Wulf says there is a growing need to improve access to primary care and urgent care centers before expanding access to freestanding EDs, which are "the highest-cost acute care you can provide."
Freestanding EDs are opening at a rapid rate. Approximately 300 hospitals operated them in 2014, compared to 146 in 2005, according to the report.
However, their location makes them somewhat controversial. Critics argue the fact that many freestanding EDs are located in suburb shows they are intended to attract insured consumers to boost their bottom lines. At the same time, freestanding EDs can charge higher rates to cover the cost of a hospital's overhead, including a facility fee, the cost of a CT scanner, laboratory accessibility and board-certified emergency physicians, according to the report.