Reasonable Cost for Procedures: An Anonymous Survey of Healthcare Providers

The cost of medical procedures in the United States varies dramatically depending on the payment system, including Medicare, Medi-Cal (California's Medicaid program), private insurance, or lien-based payment models used in personal injury cases. Cost discrepancies can discourage physician participation in Medicare and Medi-Cal, potentially limit access to care for vulnerable patient populations, and complicate the determination of proper compensation in court.

To survey healthcare providers to determine reasonable costs for medical procedures, potentially aligning legal standards with healthcare costs.

An anonymous, 8-question electronic survey was distributed through Survey Legend® between February and September 2023 to providers in orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, anesthesiology, interventional radiology (IR), physical medicine and rehabilitation (PMR), pain management, and physician assistants (PAs) or nurse practitioners (NPs). Three procedures-epidural injection, facet injection/medial branch block, and radiofrequency ablation-were included, with participants selecting from 5 cost categories: < $1000,$ 1000- $4999,$ 5000- $9999,$ 10000- $19999,and>$ 20,000. Additional questions explored participant insight into discounts for cash and lien-based payments.

For all procedures and participants, the most common value was $1000-$ 4999. Neurosurgery selected significantly higher epidural values than pain management (P=.025), PMR (P=.029), and PA/NP (P=.04); higher facet injection/medial branch block values than PMR (P=.03) and PA/NPs (P=.01); and higher radiofrequency ablation values than PA/NPs (P=.02). Physicians not accepting lien payments showed significantly lower values across all specialties and procedures.

The range of reported reasonable costs by respondents reflects a discrepancy between physician expectations and existing reimbursement models, indicating a lack of a standardized value for procedural pricing. Medicare's estimated $500reimbursementforepiduralinjectionsandfacetinjection/medialbranchblocksand$ 1000 for radiofrequency ablation are below both physician-perceived reasonable costs and the inflated charges often found in lien-based cases. In contrast, personal injury billing can reach as high as $20,000 for an epidural injection, a cost category that only 2.9% of survey respondents chose.

This survey highlights healthcare providers' perceptions of reasonable costs for procedures, possibly assisting in refining reimbursement models, ensuring consistency in legal proceedings, and maintaining proper accessibility and compensation for patients and providers.