- Report: #1059205
Complaint Review: First Choice Emergency Room - Humble Texas
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First Choice Emergency Room
5324 Atascocita Rd Humble, 77346 Texas, USA
Phone:
(832) 644-3400
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First Choice Emergency Room First Choice Emergency Room ---Scammers--- Unethical Practices Humble Texas
I brought my son in to this place because he was running a fever. We were there for 15 minutes and got a strep test and a dose of Motrin. The strep test was $100 and the table spoon of Motrin was $25. Two weeks later I received a bill for $1400 dollars. That's right, $1400 dollars for 15mins of their time, a strep test and Motrin. When I called the billing department they were very rude and let me know that they are an emergeny room and that's what they charge. Although they have the words emergency room in their name they are in a strip mall and they look like any walk in clinic. In hind sight red flags should have went off when I asked to pay my bill before my son even went in the back and the lady at the desk looked stunned. She didn't know what to say at first and obviously knew that I didn't know what I was getting in to. She told me that they bill after treatment which is understandable because anyone who heard their bill before hand would walk out the door. I called billing again a few days later when I calmed down and was told that they would give me a 30% discount if I paid the bill in full. I'm not sure how to handle this as I do not want to ruin my credit by not paying them at all and this seems to be legalized consumer fraud. But there has to be something that can be done as this is as worng as it gets. They are taking advantage of the fact that they look like a walk in clinic to charge hospital emergency room rates.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
David
Humble,Texas,
Knowledge it power
#2Author of original report
Mon, June 17, 2013
It would be nice to know everything about the situation that you're involved in but most of us don't so we do what we think is best. My son is 9 and he had a 102-103 fever for three days. Being that he has rarely ever gotten sick I am definitely inexperienced to the specifics of what would constitute a serious fever. But being that it lasted so long I thought a medical opinion was warranted. So I decided that I'd go to a local walk in clinic. First Choice "Emergency Room" is right down the road from my house. It's in a strip mall next to a Vietnamese restaurant and a Ace Hardware not attached to a hospital. Being that it looks like a walk in clinic that's what I assumed it was. I have never heard that it's the words "emergency room" that equates to overcharging and not the fact that it's attached to a hospital. In fact I have seen walk in clinics with all sorts of names including the word "emergency". So it was not that far of a stretch to just assume that this is a walk in clinic. I definitely hold some responsibility here for the situation but no more than they do. They had an opportunity to let me know beforehand what their bill would look like and did not. I asked to pay in advance when had they gave me any idea that the facility charge would $1000 we would have been done. I can understand that the other charges may vary but that one could have been relayed to me as it is probably pretty standard.
All of that to the side, let's just assume that I'm just dumb for not knowing that this place, although in a strip mall, was the same as a hospital ER. If they have the right to charge me $1400 for 15 mins of their time, I have the right to be vocal and campaign against them. They may or may not get the $$ from me, I haven't decided yet. But one thing is for sure. I will do everything in my power to let the public know that they are crooks. I'm very experienced with web development so I'll start by getting a site up that will be returned with every Google search that produces their link. Next will be t-shirts stating "First Choice Emergency Room stole my vacation" then my car will have "First Choice Emergency Room robbed me" signs on it. If I have to pay then they will too. I may not be able to charge them some ridiculous amount for my services but I can sure cost them by being vocal.
Jeanski
Dayton,Ohio,
comment
#3Consumer Comment
Fri, June 14, 2013
OK, so you don't say how old your son is, but if he's old enough for motrin he's not an infant requiring more specialized attention, right? So let's assume he's somewhere between the ages of 6 and 18. Why did you think a fever needed medical attention? How high was it? Unless it was 104 or higher (or he had other, more complicated health issues), taking him to an ER was unnecessary.
If the title of the place contains "Emergency Room" you're going to pay more. Isn't there an urgent care near you? Far cheaper....
I hope your son is feeling better soon.
