Thank goodness for urgent care centers.
We found an urgent care at the end of a strip mall in Chicago, and 20 minutes later we received the good news that there was only a sprain.
When I inquired about the bill, I was told that the center was hospital-affiliated and as such, is allowed to charge hospital prices.
It turns out that I’d stumbled into a lucrative corner of the health care market called hospital outpatient departments, or HOPDs.
They do some of the same outpatient care — colonoscopies, X-rays, medication injections — just as doctors’ offices and clinics do.
Persons:
NorthShore University HealthSystem, I’d, I’m
Organizations:
NorthShore University
Locations:
Chicago, America