People might think they're visiting an urgent care center, but the facilities could actually be freestanding emergency centers located outside of hospitals — and the resulting sticker shock could be painful, NBC News reports.
According to the National Association of Freestanding Emergency Centers in Austin, Texas, freestanding emergency centers' medical services meet the same requirements and accreditations as hospital emergency rooms.
"They are conveniently located, offer little to no waits, and provide an unsurpassed quality of emergency care to patients," the trade group writes on its website. "FECs' reduced size and lower overhead and operational costs when compared to traditional hospitals allows them to provide their services in areas where hospitals cannot exist."
Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to BenefitsPRO, part of your ALM digital membership.
Your access to unlimited BenefitsPRO content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking benefits news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Katie Kuehner-Hebert
Katie Kuehner-Hebert is a freelance writer based in Running Springs, Calif. She has more than three decades of journalism experience, with particular expertise in employee benefits and other human resource topics.
