One might assume the skeptical cardiologist has a quick and accurate answer to this question given that he has spent a very large amount of his career either researching, teaching or interpreting echocardiograms.
Surprisingly, however, it turns out to be extremely difficult to come up with a good response.
An echocardiogram is an ultrasound test that tells us very precisely what is going on with the heart muscle and valves. I’ve written previously here and here on how important they are in cardiology, and how they can be botched.
As in the example of a severely leaking aortic valve below, we get information on the structure of the heart (in grey scale) and on blood flow (color Doppler). This type of information is invaluable in assessing cardiac patients.
In the last week I’ve had 2 patients call the office indicating that even with insurance coverage, their out of pocket costs for an echocardiogram were unacceptably high – almost a thousand dollars.
Wide Variations In Equipment, Recording and Interpretation Expertise For Echocardiograms
A small, handheld ultrasound machine that performs the basics of echocardiography can now be purchased for 5 to 10K. More sophisticated systems with more elaborate capabilities cost up to 200K. In my echo lab the machines are typically replaced about every 5 years, but in smaller, more cost sensitive labs they can be used for decades.
An echo test typically takes up to an hour, and a sonographer performs up to 8-10 tests per day. At facilities trying to maximize profit, tests are shortened and sonographers might perform 20 per day.
In the U.S., echos are performed by sonographers who have trained for several years (specifically in the field of ultrasound evaluation of the heart) and earn on average around 30$ per hour, however, Medicare and third party payors usually don’t require any sonographer certification for echo reimbursement.
Physicians who read echocardiograms vary from having rudimentary training to having spent years of extra training in echocardiography, and gaining board certification documenting their expertise.
Interpretation of a normal echocardiogram takes less than 10 minutes, whereas a complicated valvular or congenital examination requiring comparison to previous studies, review of clinical records and other imaging modalities, could take more than an hour.
Given these wide parameters, estimating what one should charge for the technical or physician portions of the average echo is challenging.
Wildly Differing Charges For Echocardiograms
Elizabeth Rosental wrote an excellent piece for the NY Times in 2014 in which she described the striking discrepancy between 2 echos a man underwent at 2 different locations:
Len Charlap, a retired math professor, has had two outpatient echocardiograms in the past three years that scanned the valves of his heart. The first, performed by a technician at a community hospital near his home here in central New Jersey, lasted less than 30 minutes. The next, at a premier academic medical center in Boston, took three times as long and involved a cardiologist.
And yet, when he saw the charges, the numbers seemed backward: The community hospital had charged about $5,500, while the Harvard teaching hospital had billed $1,400 for the much more elaborate test. “Why would that be?” Mr. Charlap asked. “It really bothered me.”
Testing has become to the United States’ medical system what liquor is to the hospitality industry: a profit center with large and often arbitrary markups”
This graph shows the marked variation across the US in price of an echo. In all the examples, however, what the hospitals were paid was around 400$ which is the amount that CMS pays for the complete echo CPT code 93306.
Costs Outside the US
At the Primus Super Specialty Hospital in New Delhi, India, apparently you can get an echocardiogram for $50.
This site looks at prices for private echos across the UK. The cheapest is in Bridgend in Wales (where suicide is rampant) at 175 pounds. You can get an echo for 300 pounds at the Orwell clinic (where their motto is “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.”)
At one private UK clinic, you can have your echo read by Dr. Antoinette Kenny, who appears extremely well qualified for the task.
“In 1993, at the relatively young age of 33, she was appointed Consultant Cardiologist and Clinical Head of Echocardiography at The Regional Cardiothoracic Centre, Freeman Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne. At that time only 19 (<5%) of consultant cardiologists in the UK were female and an even smaller percentage of cardiologists had achieved consultant status by the age of 33, facts which serve to highlight Dr. Kenny’s postgraduate career achievements.”
Whereas I would not be interested in getting an echo done in India or Mexico, I would definitely have one done in Dr. Kenny’s center if I lived nearby.
Self Pay Cost
My hospital, like most, will write off the costs of an echo for indigent patients. I will read the tests on such patients pro bono (although doctors never use that term because we feel it makes us sound to lawyeresque).
The hospital also has a price it charges for those patients who are not indigent, but who have excessively high deductibles or co-pays with their insurance. In some cases this “self-pay” charge is significantly less than what the patient would pay with their insurance.
Paying out of the pocket for the echocardiogram may also make sense if the patient and/or physician really thinks the test is warranted, but the patient’s insurance deems it unncessary.
If you find yourself in a situation where a needed echocardiogram performed at your ordering doctor’s preferred facility is prohibitively high, it makes sense to look around for a more affordable option.
However, I must advise readers to be very cautious. In the NY Times example, the hospital charges for Mr. Charlap seemed inversely proportional to the quality of the echo he received.
This is not necessarily the case for a self pay echo. It is more likely that a cheap upfront out-of-pocket cost quote in a doctor’s office or a screening company reflects cheap equipment with minimal commitment to quality and brevity of exam and interpretation time.
I have encountered numerous examples of this in my own practice.
One of my patients who has undergone surgical repair of her mitral valve decided to get an echocardiogram as part of a LifeLine screening (see here and here for all the downsides of such screenings).
The report failed to note that my patient had a bicuspid aortic valve and an enlarged thoracic aorta. These are extremely significant findings with potentially life threatening implications if missed.
If a high quality echo recording and interpretation is indicated for you make sure that the equipment, technician and physician reader involved in your case are up to the task.
Ultrasonically Yours,
-ACP
28 thoughts on “How Much Does or Should An Echocardiogram Cost?”
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) just billed me $8300 for TTE W/DOPPLER, COMPLETE 93306 and with member rate i had to pay $4550. Aetna said they will allow them to charge this amount. No wonder healthcare cost is skyrocketing. Fortunately, the cost for doctor was only a few hundred. They always tell you they don’t know how much the cost until afterwards. Next time I’m getting all the procedure codes i can get before anything is done.
You should definitely contest this bill. Standard of practice here should be to alert patients to high costs. Most facilities will present you with your expected uncovered costs at the time of the exam even if they won’t do it the day before.
That is egregiously high and should be publicized and the hospital shamed
UCSF Medical just charged me $6,101 for an HC TTE W/DOPPLER (93306) and PR ECHO HEART XTHORACIC, COMPLETE W DOPPLER.
It was what I considered from experience “my standard annual echo cardiogram”, performed with an external ultrasound probe on my chest and neck, taking about 40 minutes in a room with an operator.)
(They also charged me $300 for an EKG)
Blue Shield of California thought $4630 was the allowable charge, paid $3179 of that, then UCSF charged me $1450 for the rest.
But at no time prior to my testing date, did UCSF think to inform me of the cost of the day.
Jebus,for $6K I would gladly have hopped on a plane to Costa Rica!
Ten years ago I had a Ross Procedure and have been having annual echos and ultrasounds done every year since then and this is literally the first year I paid anything above my monthly premiums. (First 6 years prior to Obamacare the bill was paid for by Aetna, then three years paid for by Medicaid in Washington State and now I’m on Blue Shield. So I don’t know who to be outraged with, is this UCSF drastically overcharging or is this an impact of Obamacare or did I just “luck” out by having a great plan 10 years ago and Medicaid for three years and a terrible Blue Shield Plan this past year
At any rate, thank you for the discussion, these sorts of costs numbers, average across the nation, per state, per procedure, per institution should be made publicly and easily available!
Here in Greece, I did one such check-up last year at a private cardiologist.
Total cost: 50 Euros.
I didn’t even bother with getting my insurance involved.
I also did a blood test at the public hospital per cardiologist’s request. Went to the hospital the next morning with the written request of the cardiologist, did the blood test, went to work, went back in the evening and picked up the results.
Total cost: 0 Euros.
Interesting. So you are saying you had an echocardiogram for 50 euros?
I would love to hear the details of the examination, look at the images and review the report.
Are you a Greek citizen or non Greek living in Greece?
Just FYI , I thought this was interesting, my golden retriever had an echo today and the total was $400. (Veterinary Cardiologist) ?
I’ve always been fascinated by veterinary cardiology. Did they sedate/anesthetize your dog for the procedure? Do golden retrievers have particular cardiac problems? 400$ is what I think a human echo should cost actually.
Here in Indonesia, they only charged me around $100 for an echo back in 207. It was in a pretty expensive hospital for an Indonesian standard.
Jewish Hospital in Louisville KY (part of KY one Health) told me that because of my weight my 2d echo and stress test would have to be done over two days due to the radio isotope they had to put in me.
The hospital told me the “estimated” cost was $2295.30 for thew first day and $1900.00 for the second. This is at least 3x what I had expected it to cost.
Steve,
That does’t make sense. We don’t utilize radioisotopes in echocardiography.
Kentucky One Health Cardiology in London, Ky which is part of St. Joesph’s East charged me $3800 for an echo. My copay was over $800 and they wanted some part of it on the spot. I could have bought my on machine for less. I will never do that again. I have little respect for most of this avaricious medical establishment.
I had an Echocardiogram performed at Doylestown Hospital and was billed $850. My 7 year old son had one done a few months later at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and we received a bill for $4,700 – 5 1/2 times more. Both tests were billed as the same procedure (code 93306) and took about the same amount of time (20 minutes). These amounts are “member rates” through Aetna. Both places billed about 2X more. Amazing and infuriating to see such a price discrepancy for the same procedure.
During my sons’ evaluation, the cardiologist recommended to get the test. “Mr. Concerned Parent we have a tech on site and you can get it done right now here in our facility – will take less than 1/2 hour.” “Thanks doc.” What parent would sit there and question how much this will cost. Especially since I had the same procedure done and knew what the ballpark price would be. CHOP is a great hospital but this is price gouging. Ironically, the cardiologist only billed $200 for the vist / evaluation, which I though was too low considering he spent a good 20-30 minutes with us. The cardiologist who reviewed images from the test billed $1,800 for his services. I looked up their bios and both have the same level of experience.
Steve P. Interesting….my daughter just had an echo cardiogram done at Doylestown Hospital and I just got billed for nearly $1,700! I had no idea these tests cost so much! We have Independence Personal Choice.
I had an Echogram done in Birmingham, AL at the new Grandview Hospital. I nearly had a heart attack when the billing came. My insurance paid out $8,171 and my copay was $50. The “whole” bill before the “adjustment” was $158,957.10!!! Whoa! The adjusted $150,499.90 out of it. That is an outrageous amount for a 40 minute test
I wish I could have gotten a $150,000 adjustment on the cost of my
house.
Wow, interesting! Unfortunately I just had to pay $1,224 from a total bill of $2,719. Then another $107 or so for the co-pay. Unfortunate that I have really good insurance (or so I thought!) but in the end it’s better to have it done than regret it years down the line.
Great article! Would you be able to point me in the direction of any literature that might back up this claim;
Interpretation of a normal echocardiogram takes less than 10 minutes, whereas a complicated valvular or congenital examination requiring comparison to previous studies, review of clinical records and other imaging modalities, could take more than an hour.
Very interesting! Thank you so much Dr P!
As a self pay patient that lives across the river from you, I went to Mexico to get a TTE after having an bad experience ad a different hospital (on the Missouri side). I was quoted $2500 for the services I received (TEE and Cardioversion), but was ultimately billed $6000. I’m still paying it off. In Mexico, I prepaid $225 for my TTE and $24 for the Cardiologist to read it. That said, I’d prefer to consult with you instead but I don’t trust that the quoted price will come close to what I actually have to pay. For us self pay patients, when hospitals play these games, it really has a detrimental impact. I realize that the doctors don’t really have any control of this.
That said, I understand the points that you make. But, unless I can get some kind of true guaranteed price, I’ll probably return to Mexico for my next round of testing in December.
My patient financial services lady tells me that we charge 650$ for a self pay TEE and 492$ for self pay cardioversion.
I have not know them to charge more after stating this up front.
I’d love to see a Mexican TEE!
Yes. I didn’t get a TEE in Mexico, but I did see lots of excellent Guacamole and Avocado.
If you are accepting new patients, I’ll probably try to setup an appointment with you in December. If not; do you have someone you could recommend that won’t preach to me about the fat in my diet?
Were you able to eat any of that excellent guacamole or avocado that you saw?
I do accept new patients. Individuals who have discovered and appreciate the skeptical cardiologist have priority.
Unfortunately, most cardiologists I know swallowed the low fat red koolaid 20 or more years ago and can’t seem to break out of the illusory dietary quagmire.
There is a HUGE difference between an echo and a TEE. You had a very expensive test and procedure!
Wow! Who knew there was so much to do with echos? Obviously you. This post lead me to read many of your other posts about echos. Thanks for the information.
Thanks Elizabet! I know way too much about echo and not enough about chocolate and mindfullness.
Very important information.
thanks Sharon!
Good article, thanks. Two comments:
1- I was a self-pay at Johns Hopkins a few years back. My cardiologist cut his fee as low as he could. After I paid a couple thousand I suddenly got a second bill for more thousands. This apparently was the Hospital’s fee. So, watch out for that, although I don’t know how it can be avoided.
2- I brought a video file of an echo I had done in Costa Rica. The eminent cardiologist (Dr. Tom Traill) said his hospital does it better “but not thousands of dollars better” so he said I should bring a video file for all future visits. So, I’m not sure México or India should be dismissed out of hand.
Cheers,
Charlie McDermott
Costa Rica
Charlie,
Good to hear from you and thanks for your comments!
My feeling is that a self pay echo at a good quality facility should not cost more than 500$
Having said that, the self pay price my hospital offers is 650$ and I am actively trying to ascertain how they came up with that # and how I can get it down.
The physician component should be at most 80$.
I would be interested in looking at a video file of an echo from Costa Rica to review quality and technique. My comment about not wanting to get an echo in India or Mexico was slightly light-hearted. It may be possible to get a good quality echo in those countries but I have no knowledge of their system so I would unsure of quality. On the other hand, I felt really good about Dr. Kenny’s operation based on the information on her website.
In fact,since publishing that post I’ve been in touch with Dr. Kenny and will be publishing some of her comments shortly.