This study compares hospital outpatient payments across states and monitors the impact of fee schedule reforms from 2005 to 2021. It also includes a benchmark comparing workers’ compensation hospital outpatient payments and Medicare rates. The study covers two years’ worth of hospital outpatient services provided during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Payments for services provided and billed by hospitals are captured in this study. Professional services billed by nonhospital medical providers (e.g., physicians, physical therapists, and chiropractors), transactions for durable medical equipment and pharmaceuticals billed by providers other than hospitals, and payments made to ambulatory surgery centers are excluded. The study also provides an analysis of major policy changes in states with recent fee schedule reforms.

The 36 states included in this study are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Hospital Outpatient Payment Index: Interstate Variations and Policy Analysis, 12th Edition. Olesya Fomenko and Rebecca Yang. May 2023. WC-23-29.

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