HPCI News: The Nagging Mystery of How Much Things Cost in Hospitals
To: Members and Selected Others
Although U.S. hospitals account for the single largest chunk of
the nations $2.7 trillion in health spending, few of them can say
how much it actually costs them to care for every patient they
admit. "To think that health care is this ginormous business that
doesn't understand costs is mind-blowing." says Vivian Lee, Senior
Vice President for Health Sciences at the University of Utah, an
academic medical center with four hospitals and 1,330 physicians.
"We don't know what it costs, so how can we manage it?", he went on
to point out.
Now the Utah health system is one of a handful
in the nation with a data system that can track cost and quality of
care for every one of its 26,000 patients. Those data are shared
with doctors and nurses for further input about ways to streamline
cost and improve care. Other systems, including MD Anderson in
Houston and Intermountain Healthcare in Utah, have made such
ambitious efforts.
"The primary purpose is to get better
outcomes for patients while spending less," says Bob Kaplan, a
Professor Emeritus at Harvard Business School. Hospitals face huge
financial pressures. Medicare payments are being squeezed. Insures
and employers are increasing demanding data about quality and costs.
Also, there are urgings to move away from the traditional way
hospitals are paid to flat or bundled payment for patient care.
The example below shows wide variation in prices in greater Iowa
hospitals for the same service. They range from $210 to $589.70.
Hospital Price for Emergency Room Visit - Level 2 (CPT
99282), Based on 2014 Claims Data in Greater Iowa
$210.00 - Mercy Medical Center, Dubuque
$214.00 - Broadlands
Medical Center, Des Moines
$217.00 - Skiff Medical Center, Newton
$223.00 - Avera McKennon Hospital, Sioux Falls
$231.00 - Nebraska
Medical Center, Omaha
$233.00 - Finley Hospital, Dubuque
$234.00 - Stanford USD Medical Center, Sioux Falls
$239.13 -
Trinity Regional Medical Center, Fort Dodge
$255.94 - Saint
Luke's Regional Medical Center, Sioux City
$258.00 - Genesis
Medical Center - East, Davenport
$263.00 - Methodist Hospital,
Omaha
$263.00 - Methodist Jennie Edmundson, Council Bluffs
$271.00 - Great River Medical Center, West Burlington
$274.68 -
Saint Mary's Hospital, Rochester, MN
$286.00 - Mercy Medical
Center, Clinton
$293.55 - Allen Memorial Hospital, Waterloo
$297.00 - Olmsted Medical Center, Rochester, MN
$305.00 - Mercy
Medical, Sioux City
$317.00 - Mercy Medical Center Northern Iowa,
Mason City
$341.25 - Trinity Muscantine, Muscantine
$341.25 -
Trinity Medical Center, Rock Island
$364.00 - Grinnell Regional
Medical Center, Grinnell
$375.25 - Mary Greeley Medical Center,
Ames
$389.00 - Covenant Medical Center, Waterloo
$389.00 -
Sartori Memorial Hospital, Cedar Falls
$395.11 - Mercy Medical
Center, Cedar Rapids
$413.00 - Mercy Medical Center, Des Moines
$415.00 - University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics, Iowa City
$461.00 - St. Luke's Hospital, Cedar Rapids
$474.00 - Lakeside
Hospital, Omaha
$474.00 - Immanuel Medical Center, Omaha
$474.00 - Alegent Health Bergan Mercy, Omaha
$474.00 - Creighton
University Medical Center, Omaha
$474.00 - CHI Health Mercy,
Council Bluffs
$488.95 - Mercy Hospital, Iowa City
$548.62 -
Iowa Lutheran Hospital, Des Moines
$548.62 - Iowa Methodist
Medical Center, Des Moines
$589.70 - Ottumwa Regional Medical
Center, Ottumwa
Source: Hospital Pricing Specialists, July
2015
Paul M. Pietzsch, MPH
HPCI - IHBA Office
4430 Ashley Park Drive
West Des Moines, Iowa 50265
(515) 778-6300