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Wouldnt it be nice if X number of doses of the Tylenol/Ibuprofen/Mylanta could be included in the price of the room per day. If you dont use the bath basin etc. you still get charged for it, it is included in the price of the room admission usually. Why not include a couple doses of OTC medication, of course dispensed by the nurse.
How much was she charged for nursing time, for housekeeper, pharmacist, etc? There are no intangible items on the bill so "time" has to be charged by factoring it into other items. What would it be worth to the pt. who is allergic to Tylenol or has a liver condition for the nurse to intervene in their behalf???
At our facility, patients can always bring in home medications and request pharmacy verify them and label them for use while an inpatient (with a doctor's order permitting use of home meds.) I'm guessing this would apply to OTC's as well.
Sheesh - and people wonder why I'm so anal about returning unused/unopened meds for credit to patients' accounts.
Hospitals have to adjust costs otherwise they would be out of business. The amount of non-paying patients are amazing. We did a study on it. The only way to cover the costs of people who do not pay is to overcharge paying customers. If hospitals were not able to do that, we would not have any open. I was surprised at the amount of people that do not pay their bills. I wish I could remember the statistics. It is not right, but an alternative way has not been found yet.
Originally posted by purplemaniaHow much was she charged for nursing time, for housekeeper, pharmacist, etc? There are no intangible items on the bill so "time" has to be charged by factoring it into other items. What would it be worth to the pt. who is allergic to Tylenol or has a liver condition for the nurse to intervene in their behalf???
I was kind of thinking the same thing. A patient who needs Tylenol should somehow pay for the nursing time spent intervening, documenting, etc. and the pharmacy who fills it, and the method of getting to the nurses station.
But $25.00 a pill??? That's amazing.
live4today, RN
5,099 Posts
I had a patient who wanted something for her headache. I offered her the Tylenol the doctor had ordered for her to take on a prn schedule. She told me she was hospitalized many times before, and was charged $25.00 per Tylenol tablet!
She refused, and said she'd keep her headache before she paid that much again for a Tylenol!
Can we blame our patients for turning down meds that they know are so expensive in the first place?
What is happening in healthcare is atrocious to say the least!
I can buy several bottles of Tylenol for that price!