Pop Up ERs — Consumers Love the Convenience But Not the Price Tag

Hospital emergency rooms can be lifesavers, though most trips to the E.R. are not life-threatening. People are simply looking for immediate medical care, perhaps on the weekend or at night. But that can mean long waits amid chaos and noise.

Recently, some medical entrepreneurs have re-engineered the E.R. experience. They've pulled the emergency room out of the hospital and planted it in the strip mall.

Many look like urgent-care centers, but these new fangled ERs charge much more than walk in clinics. Many consumers don't realize the difference until they get the bill.

As Carrie Feibel  of Here & Now Contributing Station of KUHF reports, it's called a freestanding E.R., and it may be coming to a suburb near you.