Patients overspend on diagnostic tests when healthcare prices are high and vary significantly from provider to provider, according to a research brief from UnitedHealth Group.
In the brief, UnitedHealth examined price variation among seven groups of common diagnostic tests: MRI, ultrasound, CT scan, pathology, microscopic examination, radioisotope scan and function studies, and mammography.
UnitedHealth found spending on the seven tests totaled $37.4 billion in 2017. The price difference paid by its UnitedHealthcare commercial health plans and their members varied up to 20-fold for more than 12.5 million diagnostic tests. For example, the price of an echocardiogram varied nine-fold across providers, from $210 to $1,830 in 2017.
"If the price variation of these diagnostic tests was reduced, consumers would have saved $18.5 billion in 2017," according to UnitedHealth. "Reducing higher prices to amounts already agreed to by many providers can help lower the total cost of healthcare."
For the full brief, click here.
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