When you need a test or procedure that could cost you a sizable out-of-pocket sum, it’s worthwhile to compare prices among hospitals, labs, and clinics. The following online tools and resources allow you to comparison-shop for a variety of health care essentials.

myMedicalCosts.com
www.mymedicalcosts.com
This free site offers prices, contact information, and locations for 2.5 million hospitals, clinics, labs, pharmacies, and other health care providers across the U.S.

Healthcare Blue Book
www.healthcarebluebook.com
This site helps consumers learn average or “fair” prices for surgeries, procedures, hospital stays, doctor visits, and medical tests. It also offers a number of resources to help you save money on health care services, including prescription drugs and standard laboratory tests.

HealthGrades
www.healthgrades.com
This site provides prices and quality ratings for 5,000 U.S. hospitals from a database that allows site visitors to search by state and city.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
www.cms.hhs.gov/HealthCareConInit
This site provides links to spreadsheets containing national data on payments to hospitals, surgical centers, and physicians for various services. Visit the address and, in the list on the left, click on “Hospital Inpatient,” “Ambulatory Surgical Centers,” “Physician,” or “Hospital Outpatient.”

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
www.hcupnet.ahrq.gov
This set of health care databases and software tools is based on a partnership of federal, state, and private organizations. It offers charges and other statistics on major diagnoses.

American Hospital Directory
www.ahd.com/freesearch.php
A search function on this site lets consumers search for hospitals by city, state, and ZIP code and provides costs of various surgeries and procedures.

Vimo
www.vimo.com/hospital/cost.php
Visitors can compare prices for procedures at hospitals within a geographic radius by typing in a ZIP code and the number of miles they’re willing to travel. The site also provides a range of statistics and prices for surgeries and procedures, including the average list price, the average negotiated price, the least expensive hospital in America for each procedure, and the hospital where each procedure is most commonly performed. The site provides an automatic Insurance Copay Calculator. © StayWell Custom Communications. Information is the opinion of the sourced authors and organizations. Personal decisions regarding health, diet, and exercise should be made only after consultation with the reader's own medical advisers. This material may not be reproduced for redistribution without written permission from StayWell Custom Communications.