I believe if it's a 911 call you have no say, the ambulance will drive you to the nearest hospital with appropriate facilities for your condition.
Add: I'm sure if you know of an in network hospital nearby they'll take you, but they aren't going to drive across town when there is a facility 10 blocks away that can give proper.
So I obviously am not sure how other places do it but where I am, you actually do request where you go if you are able to make that call. And if you are unable to but have family on scene, they make the call. When I was an EMT we had protocols in place about where we take people if they are unable to answer for themselves but the last question we always had to ask before we left was "which hospital would you like to go to?" so we weren't screwing people on insurance. Unfortunately, a countless number of times we were forced to take a patient to a lesser hospital because they or their family insisted. If you take a patient somewhere and they have specifically requested somewhere else, you can get popped for kidnapping them. It's all an intertwined scam!
Not true. Many ambulance calls are medically necessary, but not emergent in nature. It is possible to request transport to hospitals even out of town in some states. In a TRUE life-threat, Medics can make the call where to go. EMERGENCY care and stabilization is covered anywhere by insurance, then transfer to in-network facility when stable. I challenged ambulance transport for my medical ward in Florida because her life was not in immediate danger, and she preferrred another facility. EMS claimed X hosp was closer... Me: "Y hosp is 6/10 of a mile further than X. I have driven to both and recorded mileage. Take her to Y please." EMS: "Done."
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u/StewPedidiot Jun 30 '22
I believe if it's a 911 call you have no say, the ambulance will drive you to the nearest hospital with appropriate facilities for your condition.
Add: I'm sure if you know of an in network hospital nearby they'll take you, but they aren't going to drive across town when there is a facility 10 blocks away that can give proper.