Appendicitis for $180,000 – What a Bargain!
Oct
24
Nothing on earth is crazier than the pricing system use by hospitals throughout the country. Time and again there are charges that simply cannot be based in reality. Recently Lindsay Tanner with the Associated Press examined a California study which was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine Journal. This study looked at almost 20,000 uncomplicated cases of appendicitis, which involved hospital stays of less than four days.
The least amount charged was $1,500, the most was $182,955, the average $33,000. Some had no surgery, most had appendectomies. Some were sicker, others were healthy. Researchers took all these issues into account in making their comparisons but “could find no explanation for about one-third of the cost differences.”
How can such a system survive? Long-term, it can’t. Short term, make sure you are closer to the $1,500 end. We can help you with that. Provider networks, accredited utilization review, aggressive case management and pharmaceutical review – all of this and more, are part of OMCA’s continual effort to control your healthcare costs.
Call us, We can do better.
William Faris, JD
Chief Executive Officer
502-495-5040
william.faris@omca.biz
www.omca.biz
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