Variation in the cost of 5 common operations in the United States

Health care costs are an important policy focus in the United States. The magnitude and drivers of variation in the costs of common operative procedures are not well understood. We sought to characterize variation in costs across hospitals.We used data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample from 2001-2011 for 5 elective operations: colectomy, coronary artery bypass graft, total knee arthroplasty, cesarean section, and lung resection. Hospitals...