It can be a complicated and somewhat cumbersome task to try to find and then understand the information published by the federal government regarding reported submitted charges for certain imaging procedures by local hospitals. However, that’s why DIS is here to try to simplify the information so you can make informed choices!
If you visit the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) website, there is a tab called “Research, Statistics, Data and Systems.” There, CMS has published what is known as outpatient charge data for calendar years 2011 and 2012.
You can even download the data, should you wish to do so.
However, the coding and information provided is foreign to most people outside of healthcare.
But, to simplify and inform, for calendar year 2012 and reported by 10 New Orleans area hospitals (located on both sides of the lake and river), here is a comparison for what CMS described as “Level 1 diagnostic and screening ultrasound” imaging charges:
Hospital Average Submitted Charge: $533.45
DIS Average Submitted Charge: $294.86
For those with insurance deductibles, and more and more people have those as part of their health insurance coverage, most, if not all, of those charges will be your responsibility to pay. For the same test with the same results going to your doctor, nurse practitioner, physician’s assistant or chiropractor, DIS is nearly 45% LESS than area hospitals.
Would you want to pay more?
This is just one example. At DIS, we know people are customers. Customers who want value at a fair price. Customers who want a great experience when they face the need for an imaging exam. The DIS price in this example is much more fair than what is found at area hospitals. That means for our “customers,” DIS delivers high quality at a lower price.
Cost and convenience. You can have both.
Say YES and spend LESS at DIS.