The Palmetto Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Center: Patient's Bills Drastically Rise When a Physician Leaves Private Practice and Becomes a Hospital Employee

1. Physicians who can operate at an Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC), instead of a hospital Outpatient Surgery Center (OSC), cut their patient's costs by more than half.

Examples of their different facility fees:

• Shoulder Arthroscopy including Rotator Cuff repair
ASC costs OSC cost (Community Hospital)
$3,266 $48,648

• Colonoscopy
ASC costs                OSC costs (Academic Center)
$800                       $4,481

Ref: "Special Report: Why a Hospital Bill Costs What It Costs" -- Reader's Digest, Sept. 2012

2. Patient's bills drastically rise when a physician leaves private practice and becomes employed by a hospital, with cost usually doubling or tripling.

Ref: "Same Doctor Visit, Double the Cost", The Wall Street Journal, Aug. 27, 2012