Abstract
Healthcare costs in America continue to rise by more than 7% a year, with outpatient services and emergency departments leading the way in spending. In addition, all healthcare institutions continue to face financial difficulties, decreased funding, and budgetary restraints, with higher nurses' salaries, costs of improving technology, and increased charges for products, services, and medications driving the expenses of delivering safe, effective, and financially savvy patient care. Therefore, it is significantly important for emergency departments to take whatever steps are necessary to ensure the continued flow of revenue from healthcare payers.