Physicians recover a higher share of charges for out-of-network care they provide to emergency patients than in-network care, according to research published April 5 in Health Affairs.
The study examined data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey to determine how much privately insured emergency patients paid when they received a bill for out-of-network care and how much physicians received.
The researchers found that physicians collected 65 percent of the amount paid for out-of-network bills, compared to 52 percent for in-network bills, a 20 percent increase.
On average, patients who received an out-of-network bill for emergency care paid physicians more than 10 times the amount other emergency patients paid.