A Colorado man claims Lewisville, Texas-based Adeptus Health, the largest operator of freestanding emergency rooms in the U.S., deceives patients by failing to disclose excessive costs, reports The Dallas Morning News.
Here are six things to know.
1. The Colorado man, a psychiatrist and former Adeptus patient named David Adkinson, made the accusation via a $5 million lawsuit filed Jan.3 in the Texas Eastern District Court.
2. Freestanding emergency rooms may charge a facility fee to cover the overhead costs related to staffing teams of emergency specialists, the report notes. But the lawsuit claims Adeptus "tricks patients into believing its centers are appropriate," even when it would be better for the consumer to visit an urgent care location, or lower-cost facilities that can handle non-emergency situations and where there is no facility fee, reports The Dallas Morning News.
3. Additionally, the lawsuit says Adeptus fails to reveal the amount of the charge before the patient receives care, and as a result, patients can end up with as much as $6,000 in unexpected fees each visit, according to the report.
4. Adeptus Health told The Dallas Morning News it was unable to comment on the lawsuit at this time.
5. The plaintiff is seeking class action status for the case, which was filed on behalf of at least 100 others with similar claims in Colorado and Texas, filing attorney Stuart Cochran, of the Dallas law firm Steckler Gresham Cochran, told The Dallas Morning News.
6. Adeptus has until Jan. 25 to file a response, according to the report.
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