Standard charges housed in the Sharp HealthCare charge description master (CDM) are made available for your review in compliance with Chapter 2 of Division 2, commencing with Section 1339.50 of the California Health and Safety Code and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Fiscal Year 2019 Inpatient Prospective Payment System Final Rule, 83 Federal Reg. 41144 (Aug. 17, 2018). Charges are the dollar amount a provider sets for services rendered before negotiated rates and discounts.
Please select an entity to view standard charges by charge code. Please note that standard charges are not always reflective of the price you will pay for the services provided. For example, these rates do not reflect your out-of-pocket costs based on copay, coinsurance, and/or deductible. In addition, the actual services you receive may be different than what you and your physician anticipate before your hospital admission. Charges are for hospital services only. You may receive separate statements for other services or from doctors who treated you in the hospital. Physicians, radiologists, pathologists, anesthesiologists and/or emergency room physicians will bill you separately for each service. You can obtain a price estimate by calling our centralized price estimate line at 858-499-5901.
Read these frequently asked questions — and answers — about Chargemaster.
A CDM, also known as a "chargemaster," is a hospital-specific comprehensive listing of the items that can be billed by the hospital to a payer, patient or facility. The CDM is a complex, technical internal financial. The itemized billing descriptions were developed to meet government and health plan parameters.
Almost all of this hospital's charges are included in the CDM. However, there are some additional databases that exist outside the CDM to allow for some technical calculations to be performed when entering a price onto a patient's statement. Pharmacy is one example. Since all pharmacy charges are not calculated until the drug and dose are ordered, the actual charge is not developed until the medication is dispensed. Other items that may not be found are custom items or new technologies.
The CDM is not necessarily a useful document for consumers who are "comparison shopping" between competing hospitals because the descriptions for a particular service could vary from hospital to hospital. Procedure charges may be comprised of several separate line items that are not necessarily in the same department. It is very difficult to try to independently compare the charges for a procedure at one facility vs. another.
If you need an estimate for a specific procedure, please have your physician contact the hospital with the information, and our financial counselors will work with you and your physician to develop an estimate for the service.
At Sharp, we welcome your questions. You can reach us by:
Sharp HealthCare Attn: Hospital Chargemaster Specialist 8695 Spectrum Center Blvd., 3rd Floor, ICD San Diego, CA 92123
Charges are based on our overall mix of services and costs. Specific cost factors affecting our charges include labor costs, facility and facility improvement costs, current and projected technology expenses, the competitive marketplace and the number of uninsured patients treated by this hospital.
Sharp HealthCare's CDM does not include cost information.
Hospitals file information regarding average costs with California's Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development and required cost reports in connection with both the Medicare and Medi-Cal programs.
Sharp HealthCare is making a copy of its CDM available in the manner required by law. We will not be printing and binding copies for distribution.
As you can see, the CDM is a complex and lengthy document. Viewed in isolation, the CDM itself will not provide consumers with a true picture of charges associated with a hospital stay or procedure. In fact, it will probably be more of a source of frustration.
We hope that making the CDM available for home viewing via the Internet, will encourage visitors who have questions about the charge for a particular procedure to discuss the charge with our representatives.
We continue to offer one-on-one financial counseling to explore a consumer's best options for addressing his/her hospital bill. This could include a discounted bill, assistance with health coverage or other options. If you do not have health coverage, we urge you to talk with our financial counselors at the hospital where your procedure is scheduled.
If you have questions regarding the charge accuracy of your bill, please contact our customer service unit at 858-499-2400. Should your bill require a charge audit, we have audit nurses that can verify the accuracy of the billed service with your medical record. At Sharp, our primary concern is ensuring the accuracy of your bill.
An actual procedure is comprised of numerous components from several different departments — room and board, laboratory, other diagnostics, pharmaceuticals, implants, therapies, etc. A physician or physicians make these determinations on individual considerations using the patient's diagnosis, general health condition and many other factors.
For example, one individual may require only a one-day hospital stay for a particular procedure, while another may require a two-day stay for the exact same procedure.
If you need an estimate for a specific procedure, please have your physician contact the hospital with the information and our financial counselors will work with you and your physician to develop and estimate for the service.