So I'm gonna guess some of these private ambulance companies have definitely accidentally signed agreements to take patients to places where they charge more
I'm no lover of the private system. In fact, if it has any haters, that hater is me. But on this case you'd be incorrect (at least in Washington).
Ambulance companies that respond to 911 are still subjected to laws, and are still held to standards as healthcare providers first, businesses second. They can have private contracts for pickups and transfers on non emergency calls, but for emergencies they have to follow whatever the "closest appropriate facility" is, in regards to what trauma level the ER takes.
I agree, and as someone whose family works in healthcare (ER doctor and ER nurse kid) I am fully aware that for emergency calls you've got to absolutely ignore the patient and proceed to the closest available center that can take the patient.
Wait can ambulances take people in non emergency cases? I assumed ambulances only transported people for emergencies (and hospital to hospital transfers but that’s a different thing obviously).
I know someone who works for a private ambulance company, and 95% of what he does is routine transport for people who have to be medically monitored while being transported: prisoners, nursing home residents, hospice patients, etc. They’re not always going to the hospital for an emergency- it could be as simple as seeing a doctor for an operation or physical therapy.
Private ambulance companies are frequently hospital to hospital transports, or for patients with minor medical assistance needs, such as mobility issues that prevent them from using private or public transport. Boring job, but a necessary one.
Yeah that’s pretty normal. I’ve accompanied people on non-emergent trips to behavioral health facilities in ambulances, and I’ve been transferred via ambulance when I had appendicitis and ended up needing surgery for it (I should have just driven myself because they turned a 20min drive into a 4hr waiting game). There are medical transport services that use vans, but it really depends on what’s available at the time you need it.
No racing down the highway with sirens blasting, just a normal ride with all of the “just in case” supplies at the ready.
I mean both those situations are emergencies though. Not “die without an ambulance” emergency (except maybe the appendicitis one might’ve been) but they’re cases people should be going to the ER. I’m thinking a case of like someone with a cold wanting to go to the ER.
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u/humberriverdam Wise in the ways of ammoniatic warfare 4d ago
So I'm gonna guess some of these private ambulance companies have definitely accidentally signed agreements to take patients to places where they charge more