| Aggregated Data |
62% used a database to determine costs
56% used PMIC Medical Fees
55% used Fair Health paid subscription
48% used American Hospital Directory paid subscription
31% consult with three databases, free & subscription, for cost information when writing a LCP
The top three most used percentiles used by life care planners who used databases for costs were 75th (43%), 80th (22%) and 50th (11%) |
| Individual Research |
77% considered telephone calls to specific providers & vendors to be a valid method of determining costs of services and products in a specific geographic area
72% considered email correspondence with specific providers a valid method of determining the cost of service in a specific geographical area
42% obtained fees and prices by telephone |
| Learning |
44% learned how to cost for services and products through a formal training program
and the remaining learned on the job, from a mentor or other non-formal training |
| Practice Management |
93% of life care planners identified the sources of the costs in their plans
85% used CPT codes when researching medical, surgical, or diagnostic procedure codes
81% used a combination of sources to determine costs
64% did not rely on Medicare fee schedules to determine costs
53% used the term “charge” when requesting information via telephone calls, emails, and letters to providers to determine costs for medical services
51% of life care planners considered prices less than 12 months old to be valid
44% used a range to represent costs of specific services and products when they did not use a database
41% used the terms “non discounted” or “private pay” when requesting information via telephone calls, emails, and letters to providers to determine costs for medical services
40% used the term “self-pay” when requesting information via telephone calls, emails, and letters to providers to determine costs for medical services |
| Standards of Practice (SOP) / Consensus Majority Statements |
| 59% generally obtained three cost sources for a specific service or product recommended in a LCP when they did not use a database |