Imagine a situation where a patient is in a life-threatening situation and a medical flight is an absolute necessity. The treating physician recommends an air ambulance. However, when a call is placed for dispatch, the service provider refuses to comply. The reason behind this is bad weather conditions. The hospital then calls several other service providers until they find one that is willing to take the risk. This is called medical flight shopping. While this might seem to be a logical recourse for the patient, it is not always desirable. The risk taken by the patient and the crew is huge in such circumstances. Why do air ambulance service providers agree to such a call?
The Pressures on the Medical Flight Industry
There are over a thousand medical flight service providers in the United States. This means they have to divide the existing customer base within themselves. Plus, most of these businesses are privately funded so profits matter. Rejecting patients for whatever reason does not serve the profit motive of these investors. Hence, the crew is compelled to take the call of answering to the need. However, this eventually places a huge financial burden on the patient. Let’s understand how.
The Out of Network Issue
In a situation where the need for medical flight service is huge and time is short, the patient does not really have the option of choosing a service provider. Most often, the service that he or she ends up with is one that is not covered by the insurance provider. While the insurance might cover a base rate, medical flight companies do not always comply with such rates. As a result, the patient is later compelled to cough up a steep price that the medical flight company charges in the form of balance bills. Medical flight shopping thus is a high-risk and expensive affair – a practice that must be relooked.
