Variability of Prostate MRI Charges Among U.S. Hospital-Based Facilities.

Overview

Using the Premier Healthcare Database, we assessed charge variation for prostate MRI examinations performed in U.S. hospitals from January 2010 to March 2020. Of 552 facilities performing 37,073 examinations, median charge per examination was $4419, with 26-fold variation between the lowest ($593) and highest ($15,150) median facility charges. On multilevel linear regression analysis, interfacility variation explained 63.9% of charge variation. Patients may be charged vastly different prices for prostate MRI depending on the facility used.