LOS ANGELES -- More people appear to be choosing to use an Uber for rides to the hospital over an ambulance, a recent study has found, CBS Los Angeles writes. Two professors looked at data from places across America.
David Slusky, an assistant professor of economics at the University of Kansas, along with co-author Leon Moskatel, examined ambulance rates in more than 750 U.S. cities nationwide.
The data looked at ambulance usage rates since Uber was introduced in those markets between the years 2013 and 2015.
The data, according to the study (which you can read here), appeared to show that ambulance usage rates had declined by at least 7 percent in those markets.
"Many patients don't need something that can break traffic laws and don't need something staffed by paramedics with a bunch of fancy equipment," Slusky said.
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I don't want some goober from uber transporting me when I am at my best, surely not when I need medical attention.
ReplyDelete8:18 Then pay $1,000- $2,000 for the ambulance.
ReplyDeleteYou better be able to get out of the car and walk into the emergency room, because if you can't, emergency room staff are prohibited from coming out to bring you inside. You will die outside of the emergency room before anyone comes out to treat you. That's the way it is folks.
ReplyDeleteYeah becasue if it is anything like here in SBY, and I'm sure it is more expensive there, here in SBY a 10 minute Ambulance ride is 400 to 600 bucks...
ReplyDelete8:29 you are so witty. My life is worth a few bucks to have trained people attend to me on the way. I guess you don't have the same thought process or low self-esteem. My guess would be you are worth it, maybe a bit tight.
ReplyDeleteSorry, 8:48....I rolled up to the emergency room at PRMC and three nurses came out to get me out of the car.
ReplyDeleteThe doctor said that if I had waited outside for a few minutes, I would have died.
THANK YOU to all the nurses at PRMC!!!
It really depends on the emergency. If its a sinkable episode you are not the one making the call anyhow but there are a lot of ER visits for a stuffy nose and belly ache so it is hard to say what scenario they call uber for. It certainly isn't a dire emergency if I had to guess. It is probably saving a bill the ambulance would never collect anyhow.
ReplyDeleteI was having chest pains and called for an ambulance at the Twilley Center parking lot. Luckily it wasn't a heart attack, but when I got the Bill just for the ambulance ride, it was over 900 dollars. Been better off to call for a taxi, and take my chances. Just about had a heart attack when I got the bill for the ride, emergency room and tests. Over three thousand dollars to tell me it was a potassium deficiency which caused a panic attack. Makes you want to think twice about calling!
ReplyDeleteDecember 19, 2017 at 2:37 PM:
ReplyDeleteThat potassium deficiency will kill you just as fast as a massive, heart stopping, heart attack. Look it up. Happened to me behind the wheel of a vehicle. The trauma injuries suffered as a result of the accident that occurred after I went unconscious (heart stoppage from a critical depletion of potassium) were minor compared to the threat of death from my lack of potassium in my bloodstream, but serious none the less. I was in intensive care under the care of a cardiologist for 4 days to keep me alive while they reestablished a normal potassium level. The crash team was called to my room one one occasion, as the monitors were indicating the onset of another heart stoppage was imminent. I had many serious injuries from the accident, but the potassium thing was what kept me in the hospital. Do not take your potassium deficiency lightly. It can be life threatening, and it can happen in the blink of an eye. That overpriced ambulance ride and hospital bill very well might have saved your life.
December 19, 2017 at 12:02 PM:
ReplyDeleteSorry to you too. Others HAVE died just outside of the emergency room in Salisbury. They are not required to come out to you. You are lucky that they CHOSE to do so. Drive yourself, or have someone drive you to the emergency room, and you will be triaged and put in a queue to be seen. Arrive in a ambulance, and you are immediately admitted and seen by emergency room personnel. It's the rules for ambulances, as they can not wait for a transported patient to be triaged and seen by a doctor. Ambulances can only release a patient to a doctor's care, and not a waiting room. All the elderly know that. If they want to see a doctor immediately for whatever ails them, just call the ambulance. Straight into the emergency room for treatment. No waiting! Medicare pays for the ride.