By: Laura Dyrda

The Health Care Cost Institute issued the "Healthy Marketplace Index: Medical Service Category Price Index" report for 2017 in April. The report calculates metrics comparing aspects of price, competition and productivity of healthcare markets over time, which shows trends for potential future research.

The report includes data for inpatient, outpatient and physician medical services; the physician services category encompasses professional service claims from physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants. The researchers gathered and analyzed the 2012 to 2014 data of employer-sponsored insurance members who are younger than 65 years old.

The researchers used U.S. Census Bureau's 61 Core-Based Statistical Areas to compare prices in different cities and regions of the nation.