Health care often seems like the one service where individuals don't know how much something costs until after it has been done. Well, that is changing in Oklahoma. A new website from the Oklahoma Hospital Association, a non-profit trade association, allows patients to research the cost of hundreds of medical procedures at facilities throughout the state.

The Website

Located at OKHospitalPricing.org, the new website gives patients the opportunity to compare hospital charge information and average length of stay at Oklahoma hopsitals.

It also gives how much of a hospital's business comes from private insurance, Medicare and Medicaid as well as the amount of "charity care," a hospital's uncompensated care.

How it Works

Visitors to the website must first acknowledge a number of details about the service, some of which are listed below. They can then choose either a "basic query" or a "comprehensive query." The former checks information on the most common hospitalizations, the latter on any and all hospital stays.

After selecting a specific facility by county or city, users then narrow down the hospitalization by category. The resulting report compares the selected hospital to an average of hospitals in the region and in the entire state.

Important Notes

When searching prices of hospital procedures, keep these things in mind:

• Prices are a starting point. Depending on a person's insurance coverage, these costs are often reduced significantly.
• Listed charges are averages and can vary significantly based on an individual patient.

• Hospital charges do not include "professional fees such as physician’s or surgeon’s services."
• Data is collected by the Oklahoma State Department of Health, a source independent of any of the listed facilities, and is intended for informational purposes only.
• State law requires hospitals for certain low-income patients, and facilities often offer discounts for the uninsured.