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Figuring out the size of this data was part of the research phase for doing just that: building out that database. I'm curious to know if other people are alrea

Figuring out the size of this data was part of the research phase for doing just that: building out that database. I'm curious to know if other people are already working on it (maybe Turquoise Health?)

ageitgey 4y ago
Yep, we have built this database at Turquoise Health. I agree, the data is massive - and don't forget that it is all refreshed monthly!
- JackFr 4y ago
  Is that from the hospital side or the insurer side?
  - withinboredom 4y ago
    It’s my understanding these prices are negotiated to some degree, so it’s probably both sides at various times.
  - ageitgey 4y ago
    We have built databases for both and can compare between them.
- jamestimmins 4y ago
  It's cool seeing that Turqoise Health exists. One of my first programming projects back in the day (when I was trying to get a jr role in 2014) involved building a simple version based on data.gov medicare data. The inputs were terrible and tiny (e.g. chest pain at hospital X costs ~$60k on average across 5 patients), so I was always curious what a real world version might look like. edit: As I reflect, I'm amused to recall that this was early enough in my path that I didn't know about DB indexes, so I was very proud that I figured out how to basically roll my own indexes by pre-sorting the columns by lat and lon. I don't remember whether my solution actually prevented a full-table scan, but it felt like a major breakthrough at the time.
jamestimmins 4y ago
Very cool. Who do you see as the likely users of that database? Is it primarily for researchers/data journalists, or is there a commercial value to it? I'd be very curious to read more about the data cleaning phase when you get there. Specifically, how hard it is to combine this data and construct good schemas.
- atourgates 4y ago
  As someone who's worked on the provider side in different capacities, I can tell you that there could be tremendous value on the provider side. It's entirely possible that two surgeons with offices next to each other could be getting reimbursed at wildly different rates for their most common procedures for their most common procedures by the same provider. If you're that provider, you ABSOLUTELY want to know what the surgeon next door is getting paid the next time your group is negotiating with the insurance provider.
  - jamestimmins 4y ago
    Interesting. I'm kinda surprised this is handled by the doctors themselves. I'd expect there to be professional negotiators who parse this data themselves and then use it to negotiate on their behalf.

ageitgey 4y ago

Yep, we have built this database at Turquoise Health. I agree, the data is massive - and don't forget that it is all refreshed monthly!

JackFr 4y ago
Is that from the hospital side or the insurer side?
- withinboredom 4y ago
  It’s my understanding these prices are negotiated to some degree, so it’s probably both sides at various times.
- ageitgey 4y ago
  We have built databases for both and can compare between them.
jamestimmins 4y ago
It's cool seeing that Turqoise Health exists. One of my first programming projects back in the day (when I was trying to get a jr role in 2014) involved building a simple version based on data.gov medicare data. The inputs were terrible and tiny (e.g. chest pain at hospital X costs ~$60k on average across 5 patients), so I was always curious what a real world version might look like. edit: As I reflect, I'm amused to recall that this was early enough in my path that I didn't know about DB indexes, so I was very proud that I figured out how to basically roll my own indexes by pre-sorting the columns by lat and lon. I don't remember whether my solution actually prevented a full-table scan, but it felt like a major breakthrough at the time.

jamestimmins 4y ago

Very cool. Who do you see as the likely users of that database? Is it primarily for researchers/data journalists, or is there a commercial value to it? I'd be very curious to read more about the data cleaning phase when you get there. Specifically, how hard it is to combine this data and construct good schemas.

atourgates 4y ago
As someone who's worked on the provider side in different capacities, I can tell you that there could be tremendous value on the provider side. It's entirely possible that two surgeons with offices next to each other could be getting reimbursed at wildly different rates for their most common procedures for their most common procedures by the same provider. If you're that provider, you ABSOLUTELY want to know what the surgeon next door is getting paid the next time your group is negotiating with the insurance provider.
- jamestimmins 4y ago
  Interesting. I'm kinda surprised this is handled by the doctors themselves. I'd expect there to be professional negotiators who parse this data themselves and then use it to negotiate on their behalf.