Community Corner

What Do Oak Park Hospitals Bill Medicare for Procedures?

On average, Rush Oak Park Hospital bills Medicare less than the U.S. average, while the West Suburban Medical Center bills one to two times more than the U.S. average for treatments.

While West Suburban Medical Center on average bills Medicare $67,112 for a major joint replacement, nearby Rush Oak Park Hospital bills on average $52,662 for the same procedure, according to a federal database released Wednesday by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Overall, Rush Oak Park Hospital bills Medicare on average less than the U.S. average, while the West Suburban Medical Center bills one to two times more than the U.S. average for treatments, according to a database compiled by New York Times, which is searchable by ZIP code or state. 

For the first time people can see in detail how much the vast majority of American hospitals charged for the top 100 most common procedures billed to Medicare. The database covers claims filed within fiscal year 2011 and includes 163,065 individual charges recorded at 3,337 hospitals in 306 metropolitan areas, Huffington Post reported. 

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Illinois hospitals on average charged about the same as the national average for procedures such as major lower joint replacement, pneumonia, breathing problem with ventilator, chest pain and heart failure, according to the database compiled by Washington Post, which is searchable by state. 

The University of Chicago Medical Center and Gottlieb Memorial Hospital had some of the highest prices for treatments among Chicago-area hospitals in 2011, according to Crain’s Chicago Business. 

Find out what's happening in Oak Park-River Forestwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Here’s a look at how much Oak Park hospitals charged for common treatments: 

Treatment

Hospital Name       

 

Number of Cases

Avg. Amount Billed Medicare

Avg. Amount Paid by Medicare

Major Joint Replacement

Rush Oak Park Hospital 

91

$52,662

$12,802

West Suburban Medical Center

75

$67,112

$17,112

Diabetes

Rush Oak Park Hospital 

15

$17,133

$5,055

West Suburban Medical Center

31

$21,432

$6,897

Kidney and urinary tract infection

Rush Oak Park Hospital 

55

$18,577

$4,698

West Suburban Medical Center

45

$23,116

$6,740


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