After an mishap near Kelly Cason unconscious past summer, she ended up successful the exigency country astatine Henderson Hospital.
Doctors astatine the infirmary ordered X-rays of her knees and a CT scan of her encephalon during the July 2025 visit, Cason said.
“The doctors and nurses were each truthful nice,” she said.
However, the exigency attraction Cason received came astatine a steep price. Cason was billed $65,000 for the visit, she said.
Same procedure, sharply antithetic prices
The scan Cason received is present among the procedures listed successful the recently created Nevada Hospital Price Finder, an online instrumentality that allows patients to comparison prices for services astatine hospitals.
The instrumentality tin assistance patients store astir earlier receiving nonemergency care, diligent advocates say. But it would apt connection small contiguous assistance to patients facing perchance life-threatening emergencies.
For those capable to comparison prices successful advance, the differences tin beryllium substantial. The database shows that the reported currency terms — the magnitude a infirmary typically lists for patients paying without security — tin disagree by much than $1,600 for the aforesaid caput CT, an investigation of pricing information for 5 Clark County hospitals by the Las Vegas Review-Journal found.
Prices for different communal and regular procedures tin alteration by hundreds oregon thousands of dollars, sometimes adjacent among rates negotiated with security companies, the reappraisal besides found.
Summerlin Hospital Medical Center and Henderson Hospital, which are some portion of the Valley Health System and owned by for-profit infirmary relation Universal Health Services Inc., person a currency terms of $3,422.80 for a caput CT without contrast, according to the database.
St. Rose Dominican Hospital, Siena field — astir 10 miles from the Henderson Hospital — has a currency terms of $1,738.37 for the aforesaid CT, the database says.
The database besides reports that Boulder City Hospital has a currency terms of $2,171 for the aforesaid CT, portion University Medical Center successful Las Vegas has the lowest among the hospitals reviewed, astatine $1,672.20.
New instrumentality simplifies infirmary terms comparisons
Federal rules that took effect successful 2021 mostly necessitate hospitals to station pricing accusation online and update it astatine slightest annually. Assembly Bill 343, which took effect Jan. 1, enactment akin requirements into authorities instrumentality and gave authorities regulators authorization to enforce them and penalize hospitals for violations.
Gov. Joe Lombardo said successful a connection that the caller transparency instrumentality protects Nevadans from unexpected bills and overcharges by making infirmary pricing accusation much accessible earlier they person care.
“No much surprises, nary much guesswork — conscionable straightforward answers connected healthcare costs,” Lombardo said.
PatientRightsAdvocate.org developed the Nevada Hospital Price Finder utilizing the information hospitals are required to station online. The nonprofit besides operates akin terms finders for hospitals successful New York City and astatine slightest 4 different states, including Colorado, Indiana, Ohio and Oklahoma.
The mandatory infirmary information is “not consumer-friendly, which is wherefore we created a buying tool,” said Ilaria Wheeler, probe manager astatine PatientRightsAdvocate.org. When astir radical “open 1 up, they’d beryllium like, ‘Oh, crap, this is truthful ugly, there’s truthful overmuch data.’ That’s truly wherever our instrumentality comes successful handy. It’s a consumer-friendly version.”
The terms finder presents the hospitals’ information without changing the underlying information and checks their websites for updated files astir each 1 to 2 months, Wheeler said.
Using terms information to situation aesculapian bills
PatientRightsAdvocate.org besides helps patients usage the information to situation precocious aesculapian bills.
When radical study receiving precocious aesculapian bills to PatientRightsAdvocate.org, the nonprofit advises patients to petition an itemized measure listing each service, complaint and billing code. The diligent oregon the nonprofit’s unit tin past hunt those codes successful the terms finder and comparison each billed complaint with the terms the infirmary published for the patient’s security plan.
Hospitals typically little a measure erstwhile patients constituent retired a discrepancy betwixt the complaint and the hospital’s published price, oregon sometimes forgive it entirely, Wheeler said, adding that hospitals sometimes property the quality to a strategy error.
“That’s the quality of terms transparency,” she said. “We’ve been truly palmy successful helping patients combat aesculapian bills utilizing this terms transparency data.”
Prices are not promises
Some of the prices listed for UMC successful the terms finder bash not lucifer the estimation disposable straight from the hospital.
“The Nevada Hospital Price Finder website whitethorn beryllium somewhat retired of date,” UMC spokesperson Scott Kerbs said successful an email.
As of property time, UMC’s abstracted online estimator produced a currency terms of $1,756 for a CT similar Cason’s — astir $100 much than the terms finder price.
UMC Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Wakem said that patients seeking an estimation for attraction should usage the hospital’s online estimator and different authoritative UMC resources.
UMC isn’t the lone infirmary that reported a discrepancy to the Review-Journal. Boulder City Hospital’s existent currency terms for the caput CT is $2,634.15 — astir $500 much than the terms finder price, Chief Operating Officer Rae Cummings said.
Cummings attributed the caller terms alteration to the hospital’s May 1 modulation from a Critical Access Hospital to a Rural Emergency Hospital, which changed its pricing and reimbursement structure.
Valley Health System and Dignity Health did not corroborate their caput CT prices by property time.
Patrick Kelly, president and CEO of the Nevada Hospital Association, said helium questions however utile the Nevada Hospital Price Finder is for patients trying to comparison hospitals, saying patients often person constricted quality to take wherever they person care. Emergencies permission nary clip to shop, and physicians often nonstop scheduled procedures to hospitals wherever they practice, helium said.
“I’ve ne'er talked to a diligent who’s utilized this website,” Kelly said.
Kelly recommends that insured patients interaction their security companies earlier scheduled attraction oregon different non-life-saving attraction to find however their deductibles, co-payments and web rules would apply. Uninsured patients should interaction hospitals straight to inquire astir their existent currency prices, foundation attraction policies and disposable outgo plans, helium said.
The listed prices connected the terms finder tin supply a starting point, but they bash not archer patients precisely what they volition owe, Kelly said.
“There’s conscionable truthful galore different things that travel into play,” helium said.
Contact Lucas Hellberg astatine lhellberg@reviewjournal.com.
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