Thread: ER chair: 'We treat anyone ... regardless of ability to pay'

ER chair: 'We treat anyone ... regardless of ability to pay'

Posted 38m ago
By Mary Brophy Marcus, USA TODAY

Some doctors would look at an emergency department and run from the crowding and the increasing numbers of older or uninsured patients, but Robert O'Connor is drawn to the ER.

Lured by the variety of patients, the array of medical problems and the sometimes frantic pace of emergency medicine, "something about the field appeals to my sense of fairness and equality, too. We treat anyone and everyone regardless of ability to pay," he says. "You sort of have to play detective" in figuring out what's wrong. "No two days are exactly alike."

O'Connor, 52, joined the faculty at UVA in 2007 as professor and chair of Emergency Medicine. Now his days are filled with patient care, training residents and students, and doing research. "I view teaching and research as a means to an end, which is improving patient care," he says.

As far as the health care debate is concerned, O'Connor says, "we're not taking the type of care we want to take of patients." He would like lawmakers to recognize that his field of medicine is strapped for resources.

O'Connor's other top issues include centralizing patient data and tort changes. In emergency medicine, he says, much time and resources are wasted tracking down records and losing information during referrals of patients to other providers. And "like it or not, physicians practice defensive medicine, which escalates health care costs unnecessarily," he says. Defensive medicine can involve tests and other decisions designed to avoid malpractice suits.

He supports the idea of universal health care coverage as it would allow patients to access care more readily, before they develop chronic or emergency conditions. "I believe demand for our services will increase for the next 10 years or so following reform, if it includes universal coverage and focus on prevention."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/200 ... hief_N.htm

They may treat everyone regardless of their ability to pay but then the accounting department hounds them for payment and forces them into bankruptcy.

Good point JohnDoe2. However they hound the American citizens to pay the ER bills, NOT the illegals.