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HMI in the News

Each year, HCCI publishes an annual update to the Healthy Marketplace Index (HMI), an interactive tool that describes how health care prices, use, and spending vary across metropolitan areas. HMI helps us to understand how these aspects of the health care system compare and contrast to the median metropolitan area. We recently released the latest version of the HMI, which provides data from 2020, ...

HCCI's Healthy Marketplace Index report was cited in Washington Monthly's article on congressional hearings related to hospital consolidation.  From the article: "While the legislation Klobuchar and others are championing may well slow the pace of future merger activity, it won't do much to unwind the already deep and damaging level of concentration in the health care sector. Indeed, nearly 7...

HCCI's HMI Concentration Index was cited in Modern Healthcare's article on Atlanta's health care market.  From the article: "The Health Care Cost Institute ranked Atlanta as one of the most competitive markets in the country, coming in as the 108th least concentrated out of 124 U.S. markets." Piedmont Healthcare grabs market share in back-to-back hospital deals A string of recent hospital dea...

 HCCI's 2017 Annual Report and Healthy Marketplace Index were featured in an article in The Dallas Morning News.  Texans are paying more for health insurance — and using it less Nearly everyone is spending more on health care, often a lot more. But did you realize people are using it less? Utilization of health care is growing... https://www.dallasnews.com/business/health-care/2020/03/01...

The Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI) was thrilled to make the shortlist for the Kantar Information is Beautiful Awards in the Humanitarian category. Information is Beautiful celebrates excellence and beauty in data visualizations, infographics, interactives, and information art – and the work it features serves as inspiration to HCCI. Over the past year, with support from the Robert Wood Johnson ...

HCCI data on market concentration was mentioned in a Health Affairs blog post. From the article: "Before we even get into the merits and effects of Congress' fix for surprise billing, it's worth noting that the status quo is bad for networks. Most markets—particularly in urban areas—are highly concentrated, giving providers such as hospitals and specialists a great deal of market power. The Health...

 HCCI research on market concentration was mentioned in a New York Times article. From the article: "Sutter is hardly the only mega-system in the country. Nearly three-quarters of metropolitan areas were considered highly concentrated hospital markets in 2016, according to a recent analysis by the Health Care Cost Institute, a nonprofit group." High Medical Bills Are at Center of Hospita...

Research from HCCI's Healthy Marketplace Index on variation in service prices was featured in a report on c-sections from U.S. News & World Report. From the article:  "Exactly why doctors continue to perform cesareans for low-risk deliveries is a layered issue that appears more closely tied to system-level breakdowns than to individual physicians. For example, researchers have t...

HCCI data on the cost of childbirth was mentioned in a report by NPR. From the article: "C-sections also cost more than vaginal deliveries. In the Denver area, for instance, the average vaginal delivery costs $7,716 while the average C-section costs $14,274, according to 2019 data from the Health Care Cost Institute. On average, commercial and Medicaid insurers pay 50% more for C-sections tha...

HCCI's Hospital Concentration Index was featured in a report in Bloomberg.  From the article:  "The report relied on a measure commonly used in antitrust analysis that gauges how concentrated a market is based on the market share of competitors. It measured only the market for inpatient admissions, so it doesn't reflect other services such as outpatient clinic visits or imaging. By ...

 HCCI's Healthy Marketplace Index research on prices for specific services was recently featured in an article in the Economist  Will transparent pricing make America’s health care cheaper? - Never a bargain https://www.economist.com/united-states/2019/06/29/will-transparent-pricing-make-americas-health-care-cheaper

​HCCI's recent research on variation of prices of specific services was recently featured in an article in The Upshot by The New York Times. From the article: "It's one of the most common tests in medicine, and it is performed millions of times a year around the country. Should a metabolic blood panel test cost $11 or $952? Both of these are real, negotiated prices, paid by health insura...

 On Thursday October 11th, at the National Association of Health Data Organizations Annual Conference in Park City Utah, HCCI was announced the winner of NAHDO's nationwide yearly infographic competition. The infographic below is a sneak peak at what is to come when the full HMI report is released later this month.    Download PDF File Here

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 service...