Cost of hospital stays varies widely in region

It can cost a person who has a total hip replacement much more to have the procedure done in Merced at Mercy Medical Center than at Fresno Community Hospital in Fresno.

In fact, the price can be twice as much.

Why?

That depends on a lot.

The Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development is one of 13 departments within the California Health and Human Services Agency. OSHPD administers programs that try to implement the vision of "equitable health care accessibility for California."

To help patients find that equitable health care, the agency keeps statistics on its Web site that show prices for some procedures throughout the state.

Not everyone thinks the agency fairly shows pricing differences.

Robert McLaughlin, spokesman for Mercy Medical Center Merced, said no patient ever ends up paying the price shown for a procedure on OSHPD's Web site.

"The data on the Web site reflects hospital charges, which are not the same as the reimbursement to the hospital," McLaughlin said.

Prices are different at different facilities.

At Mercy, a common procedure such as an assisted vaginal delivery has an average charge per stay of $11,887, with about 1,016 procedures being done in 2008. The median length of stay was two days.

But at Sierra Kings District Hospital in Reedley, about the same number of assisted vaginal deliveries are done each year: 991. The average charge per stay is $3,545, and the length of stay is only one day.

Clovis Community also has an average stay of one day, and a median charge of $6,350. Fresno Community holds its patients an average of two days, and has a median charge of $6,795.

And at St. Agnes Medical Center in Fresno, the average median charge is $7,893 with a stay of two days.

Other procedures that are comparable include a total hip replacement.

In Merced, that procedure will cost a person a four-day stay in the hospital and a price of $82,021.

But in the Fresno area, at Clovis Community Medical Center, that hip replacement will result in a stay of only three days, and a cost of $51,781.

Some hospitals in Fresno charge even lower for a total hip replacement.

Community Regional Medical Center-Fresno's price was $34,590.

And a total knee replacement will put patients in Mercy Medical Center Merced for about four days, and cost about $76,031.

But at Community Regional Medical Center-Fresno, the stay is only two days, and the price drops to $38,407.

Some of the differences in prices and lengths of stay also depend on the physician, who can choose different appliances which can cause the price to vary.

"The length of stay is determined by many variables, including the patient's other underlying medical conditions," McLaughlin said.

The California Statewide Office of Health Planning and Development was unable to be reached for comment. Required state furlough days closed the office Friday.

Reporter Carol Reiter can be reached at (209) 385-2486 or creiter@mercedsun-star.com.