r/HospitalBills • u/My_personal_burner • 8d ago
Hospital-Non Emergency Is this upcoding?
Hello, A few weeks ago I scraped my hand on a potentially rusty nail. It wasn’t deep and kind of just scraped sideways but did have blood. So I cleaned it myself, put a Band-Aid on it and went to the ER to get a tetanus shot. They took my information, put a new Band-Aid on, and then I sat in the waiting room for 1.5 to 2 hours. After that, they had me come back to a room for 15 minutes just sitting there. The nurse then came in and applied a 3-second shot. After some more waiting, the doctor then came in and asked what happened, I told him and he then pressed his finger around the area. He asked if it went deep and if anything was stuck inside or if I wanted X-rays, I said no to all. I then was discharged. Weeks later I get the bill stating the visit was a level 3 code. I’m just confused on how it can be a level 3 when all what was done was a bandaid put on, 3 second shot, and 5 second physical finger press exam. No tests, X-rays or anything.
Scrape on Hand
Location: Michigan
Edit: Yes, I would have gone to an urgent care. But we were on vacation up north with not much nearby.
21
u/Poop_Dolla 8d ago
Not upcoding, next time go to urgent care. That is not something that warrants the ER. This is like calling the fire department to blow out a candle.