Hospital Costs: Comparison Shopping To Find Your Best Deal

With the cost of medical care rising all the time, it might seem like what you pay for your health is completely out of your control — but that’s not entirely true.

You can’t dictate what the hospital charges, but you can find out who will charge you the least.

Across the board it’s hard to say that one hospital is definitively cheaper than all the rest, but there some tricks to help you get the best bang for your buck.

Portneuf Medical Center urologist Bjorn Sauerwein, M.D. demonstrated how the DaVinci surgical robot works to make the patient experience better. He said doctors need to balance the cost of new technology with the benefit it gives to their patients.

“We have to be very careful to not have, like I said, technologies that are emerging, driving our costs too much. So we have to be very careful to make sure we don’t jump on every bandwagon and do the newest hottest thing just because it pays more,” Sauerwein said.

Most hospitals aren’t jumping up and down to talk about how much they charge people — they don’t want to be pinned as the most expensive. Between Mountain View, Bingham Memorial, Madison Memorial and Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center, none would return calls to talk about the issue of hospital costs.

But Brenda Stanley with Portneuf Medical Center took a moment during the hospital’s first anniversary celebration to break down what goes in to your bill.

“A lot of costs come from what Medicare pays for something, because they make that decision. So there’s a lot that goes in to trying to determine that and make a profit and be fair,” Stanley said.

You can review Medicare contributions to local hospitals on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services hospital comparison website at http://www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov. Each hospital has a ratio of how much Medicare spends at each hospital per patient compared to the national average. The lower the number, the less the hospital charges Medicare — and potentially you.

EIRMC was the highest with a ratio of .98. Portneuf Medical Center was next with a ratio of .93. Madison Memorial has a .90 and Mountain View was the lowest with a .86. Bingham Memorial did not have data listed.

But Medicare contributions aren’t the final line.

There are some questions you can ask to make sure you know exactly what you’re paying for.

Stanley said, do your own calling around and have the hospital run through a scenario with you. Find a physician you want to work with, and ask:

-How much does this doctor charge for this procedure? -How much will my insurance cover? -What’s the longest amount of time I could stay in the hospital, and how much will it cost? -What type of medication will I need and how much will that cost? -Does the procedure require additional equipment or an implant I need to pay for?

“It’s your hospital and you’re the consumer. So check things out. Call up and ask, ‘How much is this going to be?'” Stanley said.

When it comes to price estimates, the range can be astronomical. For a knee replacement surgery, for example, you could pay between $29,000 and $34,000 at Madison Memorial. At Mountain View, financial counselors quoted between $40,000 and $100,000.

On the price comparison website vimo.com, estimates for the same surgery were lower than what the hospitals quoted.

On Vimo, Mountain View was between $14,000 and $20,000. Madison Memorial was between $15,000 and $20,000. And Portneuf Medical Center was between $15,000 and $21,000.

The numbers prove that you need to be as specific as possible if you want an accurate estimate, and that there is room for negotiation.

“We want to make sure that the patient is getting the best care and at the fair price,” Stanley said.

Of course, there’s always the old adage “You get what you pay for,” so be sure to find a doctor you feel comfortable with. The HHS website lets you compare patient feedback with three hospitals side-by-side.

Stanley said that the best way to keep your costs low is to eat healthy, exercise, and find a good primary care doctor who does the right tests at the right time.