CIVHC Shop for Care: FAQs
The Center for Improving Value in Health Care (CIVHC) created Shop for Care to help Coloradans see differences in price and quality for common health care services at different facilities.
- How are prices set for health services?
- How much of the price should I expect to pay? Should I expect to pay the whole price?
- I want to make sure I get the best care. Should I choose the place with the highest price?
- Will Shop for Care tell me how much I have to pay for a health service? Should I expect to pay the average price?
- How should I use Shop for Care if I have health insurance or other coverage, like Medicare or Medicaid (Health First Colorado)?
- How should I use Shop for Care if I have no health insurance?
- What do the prices include? Does the price reflect all bills I may receive?
- How did you decide which services to include?
- I noticed that the tool includes a five-digit code after the name of service. What is that?
- I don’t see the service I’m looking for. Do you plan to add prices for more services?
- Where does the price data in the tool come from?
- What year is the price data for?
- How are the “average price” and “price range” calculated?
- Where do the quality ratings come from?
- I don’t see quality data for all facilities. Why is it missing for some?
- I wish the tool gave more information about quality. Can I get more information?
- Why doesn’t the tool show all facilities for all procedure?