Dive Brief:
- The Tennessean reports that Change Healthcare's latest Healthcare Transparency Index (HCTI) shows that the fees different providers charge for popular procedures have a much bigger effect on healthcare costs than the fees doctors charge.
- Doctors' fees for delivering babies are typically within the $2,000 to $3,300 range, according to the HCTI. By contrast, facilities may charge anywhere from $2,500 to $16,000, depending on the region.
- Knee replacements had the widest fee variability of all procedures examined by Change Healthcare, ranging from $1,800 to more than $32,000—a difference of more than 1,680%.
Dive Insight:
While doctors' fees for knee replacements, hip replacements, and vaginal and C-section baby deliveries generally remained within a cost variability range of 39% to 151%, facility fees for the same procedures ranged from 201% to 1,687% variability, according to the HCTI.
As federal agencies and lawmakers increasingly focus on making U.S. healthcare payments more transparent, it is possible that this disparity will become more apparent to consumers.