Who is included in the Health Care Cost Institute database?

The Health Care Cost Institute database includes insurance claims for nearly every individual with employer-sponsored coverage from Aetna, Humana, and UnitedHealth. 

How do we measure hospital prices?

We measure prices in two ways. First, we create a regression-based inpatient hospital price index. This index calculates an average, inflation-adjusted price  in 2011 dollars for each hospital that is conditional on the mix of treatments each hospital provides and the casemix of patients each hospital treats. Second, we create procedure-level price measures for hip replacement, knee replacement, Cesarean and vaginal childbirth, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, and magnetic resonance imaging of the lower limb without contrast. These prices are also inflation adjusted and measured in 2011 dollars and are conditional on the casemix of each hospital. 

Where can we find out more about Medicare spending?

To find out more about Medicare spending, please visit the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care (www.dartmouthatlas.org).

How do I learn more about the HCCI data

To learn more about the HCCI database, you can visit the webpage for the Health Care Cost Institute: www.healthcostinstitute.org.