Hospital-affiliated occupational health providers who find themselves on the receiving end of employer and patient complaints about long waits to see a medical professional in urgent but not necessarily emergency situations are likely to find this interesting:
InQuickER, a Nashville-based company, offers an online appointment service for adults that guarantees patient wait times of no more than 15 minutes (with certain caveats) for a fee ranging from $14.99 to $24.99. The company lists 23 locations in eight states on its website, including five hospitals owned by Tenet Healthcare Corp. and several other affiliated facilities.
The partner hospital pays a flat monthly fee. For example, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday that Lakewood Regional Medical Center pays $3,000 a month for the service and charges patients $14.99 per appointment, which means it needs to accept about 200 appointments a month to cover the fee. In addition to achieving potentially better clinical and patient satisfaction outcomes, the hospital hopes to attract more insured patients.
Triage still occurs, and patients who use the service do not receive preferential treatment. However, they can wait at home or another comfortable location until their appointment time. The company reports a 95 percent success rate in meeting the 15-minute commitment.
While participating facilities may customize the guarantee, there is some standard proposed language. Patients must:
- Provide all requested information during the online registration process; otherwise there may be a delay on arrival while the triage nurse obtains missing information.
- Arrive at the hospital at the designated time.
Assuming the patient complies with these requirements and is not seen within 15 minutes of the projected treatment time, or if he or she is not completely satisfied with the online registration experience, the fee is refunded.
Of course, if it is truly an emergency, patients are advised to call 911 or go immediately to the nearest emergency room.
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