Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1477870
8 SPINE Inpatient spinal fusion costs in all 50 states By Alan Condon A laska is the most expensive state to undergo spinal fusion surgery and Iowa is the least expensive, according to Sidecar Health's care calculator, which outlines the average cash price for every procedure, test and drug in the U.S. healthcare system. Sidecar Health is a startup that aims to disrupt the health insurance industry, according to its website. e company updates its database using local market data, government fee schedules, provider informa- tion and anonymized Sidecar Health transactions. Editor's note: Estimated costs are based on cash prices that providers historically charged on average for spinal fusion and vary depending on where the service is done. Prices do not include anesthesia, imaging, and other physician fees that typically accompany spinal fusion. Here is the average cash price for inpatient spinal fusion in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.: Alabama: $39,438 Alaska $53,366 Arizona: $44,631 Arkansas: $39,096 California: $48,979 Colorado: $43,111 Connecticut: $47,172 Delaware: $45,838 Florida: $43,305 Georgia: $40,590 Hawaii: $41,055 Idaho: $39,889 Illinois: $45,273 Indiana: $41,300 Iowa: $37,538 Kansas: $38,872 Kentucky: $39,775 Louisiana: $44,137 Maine: $39,873 Maryland: $46,944 Massachusetts: $48,376 Michigan: $44,559 Minnesota: $50,153 Mississippi: $40,113 Missouri: $39,640 Montana: $41,245 Nebraska: $40,307 Nevada: $42,583 New Hampshire: $42,714 New Jersey: $51,745 New Mexico: $39,319 New York: $48,688 North Carolina: $39,079 North Dakota: $43,423 Ohio: $40,633 Oklahoma: $43,482 Oregon: $44,352 Pennsylvania: $45,771 Rhode Island: $48,789 South Carolina: $41,642 South Dakota: $38,800 Tennessee: $39,134 Texas: $42,292 Utah: $44,073 Vermont: $43,267 Virginia: $42,089 Washington: $46,949 Washington, D.C.: $45,437 West Virginia: $42,119 Wisconsin: $44,458 Wyoming: $43,280 n Orthopedic surgeons see the highest starting salary in 2022: Report By Claire Wallace A ccording to an annual report from healthcare recruiting firm AMN Healthcare, orthopedic surgeons were offered the highest starting salary among medical professionals in 2022, at $565,000 plus sign-on bonuses and incentives. The report, "2022 Review of Physician and Advanced Practitioner Recruiting Incentives," is produced by AMN's physician search division, Merritt Hawkins and analyzes physician and advanced practitioner starting salaries and incentives based on the firm's searches conducted from April 1, 2021, to March 31. Orthopedic surgeons' starting salary is up from 2021's report stating they made around $546,000 to start. The report also showed that the average starting salaries are up from last year for most medical professionals. Urologist salaries were up to $510,000 this year from $497,000 last year. Gastroenterologists were up to $474,000 from $453,000. This increase in salary could partially be a result of increased demand for procedures as doctors work through backlogs of surgical appointments that were put off during the COVID-19 pandemic. "Demand for physicians, and the salaries they are offered, have rebounded dramatically from the height of COVID-19," said Tom Florence, president of physician permanent placement for AMN Healthcare, in a July 18 press release. "Virtually every hospital and large medical group in the country is looking to add physicians." The report also says demand for medical specialists is on the rise. Sixty-four percent of the company's search engagements during the study period were for specialists, while only 17 percent were for primary care physicians. The remaining 19 percent were for advanced practitioners such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants. n