Editor's Spotlight/Take 5: What Drives Variation in Episode-of-care Payments for Primary TKA? An Analysis of Medicare Administrative Data

Abstract

High hospital and medical charges are good fodder for outraged commentary [6]. In fact, a Google search for “ridiculous hospital charges” yields more than 6 million hits. It is hard to argue that extreme charges are justified, but what about actual costs? Presumably, a standard high-volume procedure with no complications should cost about the same, whether it is performed in Seattle, WA, USA or Santa Fe, NM, USA. This is particularly true if the payer is the federal government, which has the power to dictate terms to providers.