NGMC considers charging 'up front' for non-emergency ER use

GAINESVILLE - You may have to start paying "up front" if you show up in the emergency room at Northeast Georgia Medical Center for treatment of a non-emergency. Other hospitals in the country are already doing it.

Spokeswoman Cathy Bowers says the medical center is considering such a move but would not want to implement one until a plan was in place for referring people to a doctor's office or a clinic of some sort.

Bowers acknowledged the question of liability comes into play with such a plan but was quick to add that there's another side to that coin. "There's a certain liability in using resources inappropriately and not being able to respond as quickly to an emergency."

Bowers said Thursday about 97,000 people were seen in the ER last year. She said 28 percent of them came in with ailments classified as "non-emergency" and of that number, 41 percent had to be written off as "bad debt" because they ended up not paying their bill.

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