Why Wait? Emerus Treating Emergencies as If They’re Emergencies
THE WOODLANDS, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Long wait times in traditional, overburdened emergency rooms are frustrating patients and forcing them to look elsewhere for diagnosis and treatment. A Texas-based concept in the specialized delivery of emergency care, Emerus Emergency Hospital, promises to reduce wait times and improve care, and is now offering an unprecedented guarantee to back up the claim.
Hemant Vankawala, M.D., examines a young patient at Emerus. The Texas-based system of hospitals and satellite facilities specializes in emergency medical care and is offering a "15 minutes or it's free" guarantee to its patients. (Photo: Business Wire)
The system of licensed emergency specialty hospitals is guaranteeing that patients’ wait times to see a physician will be 15 minutes or less – or their care at that facility is provided free of charge*.
“The mission of Emerus is to increase patients’ access to high-quality emergency medical care,” said Toby Hamilton, M.D., F.A.C.E.P., and CEO of Emerus. “Our specialized team of emergency medicine physicians and experienced nursing and clinical staff allow us to offer superior care in convenient locations with little to no wait. After all, the only thing worse than being sick is waiting in a long line with other sick people, waiting to be seen.”
Emerus facilities run with an efficiency not seen in traditional emergency rooms. Once Emerus patients complete their paperwork, they are seen by a physician within 15 minutes, on average. From filling out paperwork, to being seen by a physician, to having diagnostic tests such as CT scans or laboratory tests, most patients spend, on average, less than one hour in the facility.
“We didn’t know what to expect, so we were prepared to wait for a while,” said Heather Hinton, who brought her son, Preston, in to Emerus in McKinney recently, “but the big novel I brought for myself and the game I brought for Preston were unnecessary. I can’t believe we got in to see the doctor in six minutes! I don’t get in to see Preston’s pediatrician that fast!”
According to the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), patients in the U.S. are spending more than four hours in emergency departments, with typical waits of more than one to two hours to be seen and evaluated by a medical professional.
The emergency medicine physicians who created Emerus spent years working in traditional emergency departments, and that experience has driven the streamlined solutions and processes implemented in the Emerus system. Emerus facilities are staffed and equipped like conventional, hospital-based ERs, including imaging services such as X-ray, CT scanning and ultrasound, and comprehensive laboratory and pharmacy services. Processes that may take hours to days in conventional hospitals take minutes at Emerus. For example, board-certified tele-radiologists read every radiology image within 15 minutes and provide immediate written reports to the emergency medicine physician.
Emerus is a system of licensed hospitals and satellite facilities specializing in emergency care and offers in-patient beds and care to patients who need it. The company recently changed its name from 24 HR Emergency Room to set itself apart from other facilities that do not specialize in advanced emergency care services.
*The “15 minutes or it’s free” guarantee clock begins after the patient completes his or her paperwork and ends when the patient sees an emergency medicine physician. If the guarantee is not met, the patient’s care at that facility is provided free of charge, without billing the patient’s insurance company. If the patient requires transfer to another facility or medications, services provided at another facility are not included in the “15 minutes or it’s free” guarantee, nor are prescriptions. While this offer is only available for a limited time, patient wait times average 15 minutes or less at Emerus emergency rooms. Offer not valid 11/24 through 11/28. Full details on the offer available at www.emerus.com.
Emerus currently operates three facilities in the Houston area, in Sugar Land, Tomball and in the Galleria area of Houston; and two in the Dallas area, in Aubrey and McKinney.
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CONTACT:
for Emerus
Rachel Hedstrom, 972-365-7741
KEYWORDS: United States North America Texas
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| Hemant Vankawala, M.D., examines a young patient at Emerus. The Texas-based system of hospitals and satellite facilities specializes in emergency medical care and is offering a "15 minutes or it's free" guarantee to its patients. (Photo: Business Wire) |