Poor accessibility to consumer pricing exists for elective hernia repair surgery.
Am J Surg
; 226(5): 610-615, 2023 11.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37438177
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Hospital price transparency is federally mandated to improve consumer accessibility. We aimed to evaluate how hospitals were complying with these regulations for elective hernia repairs.METHODS:
Searches were performed for different hospital systems in attempt to find a price for the procedure using author's own health insurance. Data collected included time to reach the cost estimate tool, time to obtain price estimates, and price ranges. With prices for inguinal and ventral hernia repairs varying across the state's medical centers.RESULTS:
Fourteen medical centers across the country were included, all had a cost estimate calculator. The average success rate of obtaining a cost for inguinal hernia was 48%. Comparatively, the average success rate of obtaining a cost for ventral hernia was 12%. Of the successful searches for price, significant variation exists amongst the accessed hernia procedure cost.CONCLUSION:
Despite federal mandates for hospital price transparency, online cost-estimate calculators are underperforming, thus exposing a need for more accessible cost-estimates for patients undergoing elective hernia repair.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Hérnia Inguinal
/
Hérnia Ventral
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2023
Tipo de documento:
Article