Methodology

Every number on this site comes from a hospital's own federally mandated machine-readable file (45 CFR §180) or from CMS published data. Nothing is estimated or crowdsourced.

Pipeline

1. Roster

The CMS hospital roster (5,419 facilities) is our universe. Nothing is excluded; collection is priority-ordered.

2. File identity verification

Published price-file links are wrong for roughly 30% of hospitals (they point to another facility's file). Before using any file we verify the identity it declares (name, address, NPI) against CMS registries. Only tier A (NPI-confirmed) and tier B (name-confirmed) hospitals are shown.

3. Selective parsing

We parse a controlled dictionary of shoppable procedures (based on the CMS shoppable-services list) across CSV/JSON file layouts, preserving each value's type: a confirmed dollar rate, an estimate, a percentage, or an algorithm description. Only confirmed dollar rates enter comparisons.

4. Screens

Rows that contradict the hospital's own stated min/max, unit-price artifacts, and per-unit lab charges are excluded from comparison tables. Facility and physician (professional) fees are separated; tables show facility fees only.

5. Medicare baseline

The CMS OPPS Addendum B national payment rate for the same procedure family, shown as a government reference point ("× Medicare").

What the numbers mean

A cell is the median of that hospital's disclosed rates for the procedure's code family under a plan-type grouping (e.g. "PPO" collects that hospital's PPO plan contracts across insurers). It is a contract reference — not a quote, and not your out-of-pocket cost.

Data currency

Each table row shows the hospital's own file date. Hospitals whose disclosures are older than one year are flagged and deprioritized.