Reddit reviews BSN Medical OG-4PC Ortho-Glass Pre-Cut Splints, 4" x 15" (Pack of 10)

> nurses don't earn all that well anyway

I'm not sure I agree with that. My wife is an RN with 3 years experience and makes close to $90k with no overtime


>That $50 splint costs $0.50 to make

I find it very hard that this which is self hardening fiberglass costs $0.50 to make. And I generally use 2-4 of them (depending if the doc wants a sugar tong) on a simple wrist or arm break.

> I've been in independent docotor's offices that had their own x-ray machines, so they can't be all that expensive, and modern digital ones have essentially zero marginal cost to operate since there's no film any longer.

True they don't have film but the sensor you put behind the person costs $30k and is SUPER easy to damage The reason a lot of clinics have xrays is that they are buying old less advanced ones. For example the difference between a 64 slice CAT and a 320 slice CAT is about $3million. A clinic can get away with a simple unit because they are just trying to diagnose enough to send them to the hospital. (Just using CAT's because I know them better than xrays)

>.and a bill from the hospital for $2,000.

This one is hard to know without seeing exactly what was done, but keep in mind that an ER costs a huge amount to keep staffed because you're paying thousands of dollars an hour in labor and letting millions of dollars of equipment sit there even if there are no patients.

>And part of it is that no point, did someone say, we can give you a shot for $300, or I can write you a script and you can go fill it for $10

I'm sure they did write them a script as well, $300 for a shot of toridol is not unreasonable. The nurse needs to put an IV in and do a full assessment. There is probably $125 in labor alone between the order, the charting, and the actual doing of it. Plus another $20-30 in materials. This doesn't even touch the equipment that he was "taking up" by occupying that room.

>Also, we charge $80 for this sling, but you can buy one at Walgreens for $5. And while we're on the subject, I've negotiated with every insurance company $80 for my services,

I've never actually been in a hospital that charges for slings. Generally we have the tech put them on and they are not billed.

>My wife is convinced it mostly comes from uninsured people not paying their bills and it getting passed onto others, that's obviously part of it, but no way is it that high.

This is actually VERY true, an ER is not allowed to refuse services to anyone without at least assessing them. The minimum cost for an RN and MD assessment is probably $150 in labor alone (plus the cost of the equipment that sits in the room unused ) I'd wager 70% of the people who come into our ER are uninsured/on medicaid. It's worse in the metro areas.


I do know numbers from when I worked on a rig and I can tell you that the only thing most ambulance services make money on is transfers. They do the 911 calls because they are obligated to in order to get guaranteed service areas. In my state they get a designated area that is their territory and they get first crack at all the transfers but in exchange they have to agree to handle all 911 calls. Overall we loose money running 911 calls because we end up eating it for most of them.