Study: Dramatic health cost disparities found at local level

A new study from a national health care group found that the cost for imaging services not only varies between regions, but can also differ greatly within the same town (Source: “Health care costs vary widely, study shows,” USA Today, June 30, 2011).

According to change:Healthcare’s quarterly healthcare transparency index, patients, for example, pay as much as 683% more for the same medical procedures in the same town, depending on the doctor they choose.

The organization, which markets tools designed to provide greater price transparency for patients, looked at claims data from May 2010 to May 2011 for 82,000 employees of small businesses to determine price differences for several procedures: MRIs, CT scans, ultrasounds and PET scans.