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Hospital costs up slightly
ROANOKE — National forecasts predicted an 11.5 percent increase in hospital costs this year, but in Virginia the average daily charge rose only .4 percent, according to a state survey.
“I think Virginia’s hospitals are doing a very good job,” said Ann McGee, director of the Virginia Health Services Cost Review Council, which conducted the study made public Friday.
The average charge in the state for a patient stay is $2,953, and the average daily charge is $457.
Ms. McGee said the council can claim some of the credit for keeping hospital costs down. The council was created by the General Assembly in 1978 to make sure hospital charges are reasonable.
The council estimates it has saved Virginia consumers more than $78 million since 1979 because Virginia’s 120 hospitals have voluntarily complied with its recommendations to reduce spending.
The average length of stay for many illnesses is dropping, which also helps cut costs. The survey showed, for example, the average stay for a heart attack dropped from 11 days in 1984 to nine days this year.
Ms. McGee said new payment schemes by Medicare, Medicaid and large insurance companies are also putting pressure on hospitals to operate more efficiently.
If you have to be seriously ill, the council’s survey showed, it is cheaper to do it in western Virginia and most expensive in northern Virginia.
The average patient charge per day in northern Virginia is $539 and the cost of the average patient stay is $3,625.
The average daily charge in western Virginia hospitals is $415, and the average patient stay comes to $2,347.
88.0%