Press Release

ER Patients Should Bring Meds

Patients coming to Burgess Health Center’s Emergency Room should bring their own personal medications to be prepared if they spend the night on an “outpatient” observation status. By doing so, patients spending time as unplanned outpatients can avoid paying for new medications through the hospital at a higher cost.

People will save money if they bring in their own medications in their original containers or can send someone home to get them, according to Wayne Carter, reimbursement services director. Burgess is alerting the public to comply with government regulations as a Critical Access Hospital.

“We learned that as a Critical Access Hospital we are required to handle some patient bills in a different manner which can produce higher charges for our patients,” says Carter. “While it might inconvenience someone to learn they must go home to retrieve medications for a patient, we want to prevent patients from paying extra avoidable medication charges.”

Patients with prior admissions at Burgess or those involved with planned outpatient visits will be reminded of the medication need in pre-admission planning. Persons with questions should call Burgess at 423-2311.