Disparities

How Much Is A New Hip? Now You Can Compare Prices

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Hospitals in Connecticut charge vastly different amounts of money for the same procedure – sometimes triple the price — according to data released Wednesday by federal Medicare officials. The cost discrepancies are detailed in a report by the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which for the first time is making data available to the public on prices for the 100 most common medical procedures. The report shows what hospitals charge to Medicare, as well as the lower amounts that they collect from the government. In Connecticut, prices for most procedures varied widely among hospitals.  For a cardiac pacemaker implant, for example, Yale-New Haven Hospital’s average bill was $85,902, while Manchester Memorial Hospital billed a low of $22,096. Stamford Hospital billed $25, 493 to treat simple pneumonia, while Charlotte Hungerford Hospital’s average bill was $8,177.

I-Team In-Depth

Surgical Errors Climb, Bed Sores Decline In State’s Hospitals

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Reports of wrong-site surgeries increased 62 percent in the past year in Connecticut hospitals, while the number of patient deaths or disabilities resulting from surgery or falls also rose, a new state report shows. At the same time, reports of patients suffering from serious pressure ulcers declined, as a number of hospitals made progress in preventing the painful bed sores. The new Adverse Event Report, compiled by the state Department of Public Health and covering 2011, marks the second year that acute-care hospitals and other medical facilities have been publicly identified by name, as they report errors that caused harm to patients. The five hospitals with the highest rate of adverse events in 2011, calculated per 100,000 inpatient days, were: Charlotte Hungerford Hospital, in Torrington (49.2); Sharon Hospital (35.4); New Milford Hospital (32.9); Stamford Hospital (19.7); and the Hospital of Central Connecticut, in Southington and New Britain (19.3). In terms of the sheer volume of events, Yale-New Haven and its affiliated Hospital of St.