Urgent Care- Unauthorized Pregnancy Test

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At this point *I* will pay the $37 if OP agrees to stop going on about it.

LOL, right?

[Anonymous]

To the OP, we are on a high deductible plan and I routinely decline excess testing for my family that I don’t want to be charged for.

A common example - take child in for sore throat/suspicion of strep. On our HMO, they would also test for flu because why not? On the high deductible I say, no just test for strep. Strep comes back positive, antibiotics given. They can always test for flu after if the strep is negative. But I don’t need to pay for them to throw spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD22 was in and out of ER and urgent cares with gastrointestinal and menstrual issues over the course of two years. She got a pregnancy test run every time.

(Ended up with endometriosis diagnosis)

Please read what I wrote - The pregnancy test itself is not the issue, it is the lack of it being done without her knowledge. She should at least have the right to consent or decline. She would have consented of course, but should she not be allowed to have that right to decline? And she only found out about the test being run when she got her bill. It is an issue of rights, consent and principle.

I read basically every other page, so maybe this was already addressed, but:
1. The procedure was the urine collection. She clearly consented to that.
2. She asked what tests were being run. They told her routine. She said fine. So she DID consent to whatever tests were deemed to be routine by the physician. If she had followed up and asked more specifically, then she would have known.

She's young and was in pain - it makes perfect sense that she didn't ask for lots of details. But to now pretend that they were trying to do something sneaky or had misled her somehow is super disingenuous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the OP, we are on a high deductible plan and I routinely decline excess testing for my family that I don’t want to be charged for.

A common example - take child in for sore throat/suspicion of strep. On our HMO, they would also test for flu because why not? On the high deductible I say, no just test for strep. Strep comes back positive, antibiotics given. They can always test for flu after if the strep is negative. But I don’t need to pay for them to throw spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks.

Nice story, but in the OP's case, the pregnancy test is not "excess" and in fact was one of the first things that needed to be ruled out in a young woman presenting with GI issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At this point *I* will pay the $37 if OP agrees to stop going on about it.

LOL, right?

Also, the issue should be WHY IS A SIMPLE PREGNANCY TEST THIRTY-SEVEN DOLLARS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I want to premise my question with saying that DD plans to talk to the billing department today. My question is more related to whether or not this is standard practice....or just a money grab. I think it's the latter.

DD (just graduated college, now out of state) went to urgent care for gastro issues. Was handed a cup for urine test. DD asked what the purpose of the urine test was, aid responded "it's just routine stuff". DD gets her urgent care bill and there's a charge on the bill for $37 for a pregnancy test which she did not ask for, nor authorize. Is this standard practice? I would think that something like a pregnancy test would have to be authorized by the patient. DD answered all of the questions on the intake form including "is there a chance you might be pregnant?", she answered "No". Sounds to me like an easy way for clinics and doctors to make money, hoping that most patients don't look at their bills or perhaps overlook it thinking it's standard procedure.

The routine reason to test a cup of pee from a woman over 13 is pregnancy test. Are you a man, to not know this? There's always a pregnancy test. You don't have to authorize them to give you a pregnancy test and they likely cannot treat you effectively without it, because many medications are contraindicated for pregnancy.

When I was in high school if you rolled your ankle in basketball practice the trainer would give you a pregnancy test.

+1 Some of you didn't watch that episode of the Office when Pam and Jim found out that she was pregnant after an injury during the company picnic volleyball game and it shows.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At this point *I* will pay the $37 if OP agrees to stop going on about it.

LOL, right?

Also, the issue should be WHY IS A SIMPLE PREGNANCY TEST THIRTY-SEVEN DOLLARS?

Why is a Tylenol $20?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At this point *I* will pay the $37 if OP agrees to stop going on about it.

LOL, right?

Also, the issue should be WHY IS A SIMPLE PREGNANCY TEST THIRTY-SEVEN DOLLARS?

Hahaha, yeah, I posted early on sympathizing with the insanity of urgent care costs because yes, THIS part is definitely a problem. But it has nothing to do with consent and everything to do with the f-ed up healthcare system in the US.

[Anonymous]

I feel like this thread is bascially an argument for universal healthcare. You have the Drs saying hey - healthcare is not a regular consumer purchase where you choose what you want from a buffet of options, you come to get treated, you need to let the Dr tell you what the treatment is. But for patients paying out of pocket, you get charged for every little thing, so you are afraid to defer to what the Dr says you need bc you have no idea what it will add up to. And it feels like, ok I came in with a specific problem to get treated and now I am being charged for a million different things I never asked for.

It's why so many Americans delay getting care that they need - it's impossible to predict how much it will cost and they can't afford to take their chances. Healthcare just doesn't work well as a for-profit business.

[Anonymous]

I brought my 12 year old to the ER for intractable vomiting and dehydration (from a virus) and they tested her for pregnancy. She attended an all-girls school and had no male friends, so I felt insulted, but let them do the test anyway. They just have to screen all women of child-bearing age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:This is (unfortunately or not) common.

Doesn't make it right just because it's common. Not snarky towards you PP, just adding on to your comment.

OP, are you a man? You sound like a man. This reminds me of the guy who said the Covid test was the most traumatic medical test he'd ever had and all the women on Twitter laughing themselves breathless. You just seem way too disconnected from reality to be a woman, and like you care more about being "taken for a ride" for $37 than your daughter getting appropriate care.

I've been called many things here today - idiot, man, "disconnected from reality". I'm not a man, nor an idiot, and absolutely not disconnected from reality. I'm simply a mother and woman who is trying to understand why women are being tested for things without their consent. I find it very disappointing that on DCUM this would even be a debate!

I know that I will continue to be called more names because of my post, that I accept. But I will not simply shut up when I feel that something is not right.

The only one debating is you. Your daughter gave her consent by agreeing to be seen than peeing in a cup and handing it over during a complaint of abdominal pain. It is beyond standard for this to happen- no debate necessary.
She can ask and certainly deny the test, but most medical practitioners would not give meds or testing without know if she was pregnant.

+1
Your daughter didn’t ask questions. That’s on her. She should have asked for more specific details after they answered “routine tests”. The pregnancy test was absolutely routine and some patients don’t want/need more details. She needs to advocate better for herself if this is such a big deal.

OP here - and I agree with you 100%. She should have asked more questions. She is only 22 and still learning, as am I. She has always been one to self-advocate but this is somewhat new territory for her as she's really only been on her own for a few years. So this is one of those learning opportunities for her, and for me as well. I have learned a lot here today. Some of it very helpful and insightful, some of it not so much. But I accept the good with the bad.

I’m curious how would you advise her moving forward?
Would you tell her to take their pregnancy test?

Absolutely! And as I said in an earlier post had they told her they were going to give her a pregnancy test she would have consented. This whole conversation was not at all about her being against getting tested, it was about not being informed that it was going to happen. When she asked the aid "what is the urine test for" and that person answered "oh just routine stuff", DD thought it was to look for perhaps bacteria or something in that realm. So while I fully agree she needs to be a better advocate, that person should have also given her more information after all it is her body. She should have followed up with "urine culture, looking for bacteria, pregnancy test etc:," and DD would have been fine with it.

So now you aren't complaining that she was tested without consent, you're upset that she wasn't specifically and proactively informed of each and every test that was going to be performed?

OK, I guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They also need to rule out pregnancy in order to prescribe certain medications and tests.

Also patients lie allllllll the time, OP.

It is one of the most sexist, paternalistic comments ever and people who think this crap in medicine need to quit or retire. It is fng insulting to be treated like you don't know if you are pregnant.

Oh really. So if every woman knows immediately they are pregnant, than the 6 week abortion ban in Texas is perfectly fine.

Plenty of us know with certainty that we are NOT pregnant. The fact that so many women are backing this up is pathetic. “We know better than you do, little lady, even though you haven’t had any sexual contact in a year by choice. We know how you little ladies like to lie. LOL!”

It's hard to believe this has to be said, but despite your apparent disbelief, many people *do* lie. That fact that you aren't lying is immaterial. Enough people do, and the repercussions of certain tests or treatments are so significant if one is pregnant, that the doctor needs to be absolutely sure before authorizing those treatments. Because someone who swears she isn't pregnant and is, whether she's lying or just ill-informed, absolutely will sue a provider and medical facility if her baby is harmed and the doctor didn't confirm pregnancy status.

It's so silly being personally offended by this.

And from the tone of your post, I'm doubting that your lack of sexual contact for a year is by choice. Your choice, anyway.

[Anonymous]

I have said no to peeing in a cup at the primary care, the ob/gyn yearly visit and at urgent care in the past. I don't have a uterus anymore. Unless they can clearly explain what they are testing for and why, I'm not peeing in a cup.

It's standard and for obvious reasons, but can be a mindless exercise. If every woman who goes in to a yearly ob/gyn visit gets an extra $40 test, wow, that's a good deal for a dipstick that costs 30cents for the provider.

Bottom line: Ask and get informed consent. If you didn't call them on it.

[Anonymous]

and do you know you get drug tested when you show up at most hospitals to have a baby? Just as a headsup. Marijuana shows up on the tox screen. My sister in law found out the hard way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD22 was in and out of ER and urgent cares with gastrointestinal and menstrual issues over the course of two years. She got a pregnancy test run every time.

(Ended up with endometriosis diagnosis)

Please read what I wrote - The pregnancy test itself is not the issue, it is the lack of it being done without her knowledge. She should at least have the right to consent or decline. She would have consented of course, but should she not be allowed to have that right to decline? And she only found out about the test being run when she got her bill. It is an issue of rights, consent and principle.

I read basically every other page, so maybe this was already addressed, but:
1. The procedure was the urine collection. She clearly consented to that.
2. She asked what tests were being run. They told her routine. She said fine. So she DID consent to whatever tests were deemed to be routine by the physician. If she had followed up and asked more specifically, then she would have known.

She's young and was in pain - it makes perfect sense that she didn't ask for lots of details. But to now pretend that they were trying to do something sneaky or had misled her somehow is super disingenuous.

This is the important part where OP's argument falls apart. She did not ask. By the comments, everyone clearly knows routine for a woman includes pregnancy test.

I can also bet that OP would be the first to file a malpractice suit if they didn't do the pregnancy test and there was a treatment given that could have harmed a fetus. The medical/health insurance industry sucks for many, many reasons, but patients like OP are exactly why many doctors hate their work.