Study Shows Shocking Disparities in Hospital Bills for Appendicitis Treatment

'Mommy, my tummy hurts.' It's 4am. Your 8-year-old son is shaking you awake. After you confirm that in fact, he is having abdominal pain and not just a bad dream, you head down to the local hospital emergency department to have him checked out.

Little did you suspect, a variety of factors beyond your control in the next 2 hours, having little to do with your son's medical condition, will determine whether your family has to declare bankruptcy or not. Our health care system is broken.

A study out of UCSF looked at 19,368 cases of routine appendicitis, with a length of stay of three days or less, at 289 California hospitals. The study documents an enormous discrepancy in what hospitals charge for appendicitis treatment, ranging from a low of $1,529 to a high of nearly $183,000. The median hospital charge was $33,611.

A patient with severe abdominal pain is in a poor position to determine whether his or her physician is ordering the appropriate blood work, imaging, or surgical procedure. Price shopping is improbable, if not impossible, because the services are complex, urgently needed, and no definitive diagnosis has yet been made.

In a country where medical bills are the leading cause of personal bankruptcy, and where health insurance policies are changing to expose individuals to higher percentages of their medical bills, these findings should alarm everyone.

My recommendation? Find a personal physician who can get to know you well, and who can advocate on your behalf (in real time) if you require emergency or hospital care. A high-tech Marcus Welby, M.D. Not only might you have better medical outcomes, but more predictable financial results as well.