Information About Hidden Costs To Treat Drunk Drivers

It is believed that drunk drivers often increase their health care costs. These were noted in the case of drivers who had been minimally injured and treated in the emergency departments for release later on. Experts have noted that drivers who are nominally injured also contribute to expensive emergency coverage costs and expenses than the other drivers.

As the drunken drivers are the ones who are intoxicated, they may have a blunted perception of pain as they are being treated in the emergency room. This also indicates the fact that the drivers are not able to offer help to the emergency room personnel as the latter diagnose the extent of their injuries.

This is why the providers of emergency care are less likely to order more diagnostic imaging studies like MRI or X-rays. The emergency room personnel may even hold the impaired patients for a longer amount of time until the patient is coherent enough for being examined accurately.

This means that the impairment through alcohol actually complicates the clinical assessments of emergency patients and this is why the costs soar. According to studies, it has been found through research that patients who had alcohol in their systems seem to spend about $4500 more than the usual charges. The average duration of their stay was about 3 hrs 30 minutes longer than the patients who are not impaired by alcohol.

A large amount of the cost thus incurred can be directly attributed to the higher frequency and costs of diagnostic imaging studies. It should be noted in this regard that imaging itself is a representation of about 69% of the charge differentials. A driver who is impaired by alcohol may require to be treated only for minor injuries, after which they may be required to be discharged home.

However, there is still a higher amount of expenditure that needs to be incurred for treating the patient in an emergency room. More than that, the time that is required to be spent on the treatment may require a longer span of time. This may in consequence delays to patients requiring care in the ER.