Hospitals that are designated as trauma centers charge patients more for non-trauma care than hospitals without that designation, according to a study published March 4 in Health Affairs.
The same was true even when researchers analyzed data and checked for other discrepancies in how services were charged in comparison.
"Rising prices are a major cause of increased health care spending and health insurance premiums in the U.S. Hospital prices, specifically — for both inpatient and outpatient care — are the largest driver of rising health care spending in the commercial insurance market," researchers wrote. "… Hospitals serving as trauma centers are often endowed by regulators with monopoly power over trauma services in their geographic areas, and this monopoly power may spill over to nontrauma services."
In 2021, Sutter Health Memorial Medical Center in Modesto, Calif., drew national attention for charging one patient a nearly $9,000 "trauma alert" fee.
A subsequent report, also done in 2021, "found little rationale in the billing practices" of trauma team response fees. It suggested that "trauma centers struggle to maintain financial viability as regulatory agencies and the public push for transparency" of their fees. Because of this, collaboration between trauma centers and regulatory bodies is essential, they wrote, to "ensure a balance between providing quality trauma care with justified associated charges and financial sustainability."