North Valley Hospital Among Lowest Cost Rural Hospitals
Whitefish, Montana – During a time when the cost of health care is at the top of the news, a hospital in Whitefish, Montana has been featured in a recent article on the fifty least costly rural hospital service areas in the nation. A data collection process recently conducted by the Dartmouth Atlas Project has ranked Whitefish, Montana at the top of the list for having the least expensive Medicare costs, second only to Bonners Ferry, Idaho.
The Dartmouth Atlas Project, which has been documenting variation in how medical resources are distributed and used in the United States for more than 20 years, found that in Whitefish, the average yearly cost of taking care of a Medicare patient over a three-year period ending in 2006 was $3,950. Whitefish area costs are 51 percent lower compared to the national average Medicare cost.
In Graceville, Florida, the cost of caring for a Medicare patient during the same time period was almost $15,500.
Why the huge difference in health care costs? It’s not exactly clear. However, Dartmouth researchers say that costs are not determined by differences in population or in health outcomes. A larger percentage of high and low costs are due to “discretionary decisions by physicians.” The controversy over variations in health care costs is currently fueled by the national debate on health care reform.
Meanwhile, the administrators and physicians of North Valley Hospital are taking pride in the fact that they are getting it right – patients are not only offered low cost health services, but some of the most comfortable and quality-based healthcare outcomes available in Montana as well. This is a hospital with a visiting harpist every week and windows filled with views of Glacier National Park.
According to hospital administrator Jason Spring, the doctors and staff at North Valley Hospital are a “tight-knit” community of health care providers and continually challenge themselves to provide better care to all patients and their families.
“Our doctors are conservative in ordering tests and consulting with specialists,” Spring said. “They do, however, give the best care to patients as if they were a member of their own family.”
North Valley Hospital also has been highly ranked as a full-service healthcare provider in the state of Montana according to the latest Consumer Reports healthcare survey.
“When a patient comes here, no matter what the care is for, we want them to feel like they are at home,” Spring said. “That doesn’t mean we lack in medical technology or patient care. Our medical equipment is top of the line and all of it is two years old or newer.” In 2007, the hospital moved its services into a new $27.9 million patient-centered facility (about 30 percent donated by local residents).
The article highlighting the “Uneven cost of rural health care” two weeks ago on the web site www.dailyyonder.com, a source of news and information published by the Center for Rural Strategies. Authors are Daily Yonder editors, Bill Bishop and Julie Ardery.
About North Valley Hospital:
North Valley Hospital is a private 501(c)(3), non-profit community Critical Access hospital governed by a Volunteer Board of Directors from the North Valley area. North Valley Hospital is the only hospital in Montana affiliated with Planetree. Planetree is a non-profit organization that provides education and information in a collaborative community of healthcare organizations, facilitating efforts to create patient centered care in healing environments. North Valley Hospital receives no tax support for its services. North Valley Hospital serves Flathead and Lincoln counties with a focus on the north valley. Visit www.nvhosp.org or call 406-863-3500. |