bestmedicareprice
Data
price comparison map
SHOW HN2013
Legend
bestmedicareprice
I mapped US medical prices. Save thousands by driving a few miles
bestmedicareprice.com488points
222comments
#12of 1,739 in 2013
Top 1%of 2013 by points
How HN took it
DebatedReal support and real criticism
21 positive, 23 neutral or asking, 7 mixed, 23 critical, out of 74 comments about the project. Thread score -0.01.
Idea: 10 for, 11 againstExecution: 1 for, 11 againstDesign: 3 for, 0 againstPrivacy: 0 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Clear, simple, helpful UI.
From 2 comments
This is fantastic, clear, concise, and helpful, with a simple UI.
hardwaresofton on HNThis has enormous impact by bringing transparency to medical procedure pricing. One could quite literally save $10-50K by opting to do a procedure just a few miles away. Nice…
dshankar on HN
Important problem for transparency in medical pricing.
From 1 comment
This has enormous impact by bringing transparency to medical procedure pricing. One could quite literally save $10-50K by opting to do a procedure just a few miles away. Nice…
dshankar on HN
Objections
Medicare rates are not what patients pay; commercial and insurer prices differ.
From 3 comments
Assuming this data is from the Medicare (insurance program for those >65) dataset released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services earlier this year…
jeanlucneptune on HNWhat's the consumer use for this? Is it for people without insurance? From what I understand this is the rate that Medicare has negotiated from these providers. But I assume this…
dougmccune on HNThese are called cost and quality or transparency tools in the industry. Many insurance companies have tools that can do this exact thing for their members AND apply it to your…
MJR on HN
Cheaper does not mean better; outcomes and quality data are missing.
From 4 comments
This is a great start, however a key thing that is missing (at no fault of the authors) is patient outcomes. Just because a service is cheaper does not mean you should shop by…
rschmitty on HNBe careful comparing costs alone. Like everything else, sometimes more expensive things are better in quality. This might manifest in a different diagnosis, a longer recovery…
anothernaysayer on HNInteresting data, but good to note that cheap does not equate with better in the medical field typically.
ocfx on HNHowever, I think hand in hand with this you need to map outcomes data, especially for invasive procedures. Often, the reason to go to a "Big Hospital" say UCSF instead of Podunk…
caycep on HN
Procedure terminology and charge data are hard for patients to interpret.
From 2 comments
Assuming this data is from the Medicare (insurance program for those >65) dataset released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services earlier this year…
jeanlucneptune on HNI picked one (Heart Failure with Shock with MCC) at random http://www.cms.gov/icd10manual/fullcode_cms/P0136.html the link shows all the diagnoses that fall in that category of…
bartcatz on HN
Site had bugs with the procedure selector and a JS error.
From 3 comments
I don't know if I'm just completely retarded or hitting a bug. How do I use the "Select a Procedure..." box? Typing into it does nothing. If I click on the box (or the down…
jonmrodriguez on HNYou have a JS error that breaks the whole site. Here it is: ``` var query = new Parse.Query(Procedure); query.limit(1000); query.ascending)( <---- error query.find({ ```
ye on HNGreat idea, but why is this thing on front page if its not working ? I see nothing to select in "Select Procedure" menu.
31reasons on HN
Requests
Add outcomes and quality data.
From 2 comments
However, I think hand in hand with this you need to map outcomes data, especially for invasive procedures. Often, the reason to go to a "Big Hospital" say UCSF instead of Podunk…
caycep on HNThis is a great start, however a key thing that is missing (at no fault of the authors) is patient outcomes. Just because a service is cheaper does not mean you should shop by…
rschmitty on HN
Sort procedures and add search.
From 1 comment
A couple of points: There are far fewer procedures / pathologies here than are out there. At least sort the procedures / pathologies lexicographically. It would be even better if…
nickbauman on HN
Add a cheapest-option button and clearer map legend.
From 2 comments
Would it be useful to have a 'show me the cheapest' button? The range in cost hints at the massive variance. The US is crazy. How does a procedure costing 4k in one place cost…
awjr on HNWhat do the numbers and colors of the hospital symbols mean? They do not seem to be correlated with price of procedure.
dice on HN
Questions
Where does the data come from and is it public?
From 1 comment
This has enormous impact by bringing transparency to medical procedure pricing. One could quite literally save $10-50K by opting to do a procedure just a few miles away. Nice…
dshankar on HN
What is the consumer use case for uninsured or insured patients?
From 1 comment
What's the consumer use for this? Is it for people without insurance? From what I understand this is the rate that Medicare has negotiated from these providers. But I assume this…
dougmccune on HN
Alternatives named
BetterDoctor pricemaps
From 2 comments
We did a similar thing at BetterDoctor a few weeks ago: http://pricemaps.betterdoctor.com/
rexec on HNSaw this couple of weeks ago http://pricemaps.betterdoctor.com/
enra on HN
Castlight Health
From 1 comment
Incredibly useful if you're on medicare (what the price data is based on). For the majority of us _not_ on medicare, castlighthealth.com is solving this. It's B2B for now, i.e.…
benmathes on HN
Insurer cost and quality tools
From 1 comment
These are called cost and quality or transparency tools in the industry. Many insurance companies have tools that can do this exact thing for their members AND apply it to your…
MJR on HN
Health Cost Negotiator
From 1 comment
I made a similar app at http://healthcostnegotiator.com/ I took the approach of targeting under/un-insured patients with the goal of assisting them in negotiating their health…
hydrologie on HN
Dartmouth Atlas
From 1 comment
Have you looked at the Dartmouth Atlas? They've been mapping healthcare costs for the last decade. Might have some good data and inspiration for you.
davycro on HN