How to Compare Hospital Prices in Wyoming (Step-by-Step Guide)

12/10/2025

Paying for medical care in the United States is confusing, especially if you are trying to budget for an MRI, CT scan, surgery, or other non-emergency procedure. Prices can vary by hundreds or even thousands of dollars between hospitals in the same region.

This guide explains how to use CarePriceGuide to compare hospital prices in Wyoming, what the “cash price” really means, and how to use procedure codes (like CPT and HCPCS) to find more accurate information.

1. What the hospital “cash price” actually means

Under U.S. federal hospital price transparency rules, hospitals must publish machine-readable files that include several types of prices for each service.

The main price types

Gross charge – the hospital’s list price, similar to a “rack rate” that almost nobody actually pays.
Cash price / self-pay price – the price offered to patients who pay out of pocket without using insurance.
Payer-specific negotiated prices – prices negotiated between the hospital and each insurance company.
Minimum and maximum negotiated prices – the lowest and highest contracted prices the hospital receives from any payer.

On CarePriceGuide, we focus on the cash price as the primary metric because it is:

Easier for patients to understand.
Often the most relevant number if you are uninsured, under-insured, or considering not using your insurance for a specific procedure.
Comparable across different hospitals in Wyoming.

However, the price you see on the site is still an estimate. It usually reflects only the facility fee for the procedure and may not include:

Radiologist or surgeon fees
Anesthesia
Lab work or additional imaging
Extra days in the hospital if something unexpected happens

Always confirm the total out-of-pocket cost directly with the hospital and ask for a written Good Faith Estimate before you schedule care.

2. Learn the basic codes: CPT and HCPCS

Hospitals do not bill using only plain-language descriptions like “MRI knee without contrast.” They also use standardized billing codes. The two most important code sets for our purposes are:

CPT (Current Procedural Terminology) – 5-digit numeric codes used for most medical procedures.
HCPCS (Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System) – alphanumeric codes (starting with a letter) used for certain services, supplies and drugs (for example many “J-codes” for medications).

Examples:

CPT 73721 – MRI of the knee or lower extremity without contrast.
HCPCS J3490 – “unclassified drugs,” a catch-all code that many hospitals use for some medications.

If you have an order from your doctor, it often includes one or more of these codes. Searching by code is usually more precise than searching by description.

If you do not know the code, you can ask your doctor or the hospital billing office:
“Can you tell me the CPT or HCPCS code for this procedure?”

3. How to use CarePriceGuide to compare hospital prices

Step 1: Start from the search page

Go to the CarePriceGuide home page.
Open the Prices or Search page.
In the search box, enter either:
- a CPT code (for example 73721), or
- a descriptive term such as MRI knee, colonoscopy, or CT scan head.

Searching by code usually returns cleaner and more comparable results.

Step 2: Filter by city or hospital

After you search, you will see:

A list of Wyoming hospitals that publish a price for that code.
The standard cash price extracted from each hospital’s transparency file.

If you prefer, you can start from a specific location:

Browse hospitals from the header link Browse Locations (for example Casper, Rock Springs, Jackson).
Or open an individual hospital page and then look at the procedures that hospital lists.

Step 3: Compare the cash prices

On a specific procedure page you typically see:

The standard cash price at that hospital.
How that price compares to the typical price across Wyoming (for example, “82% cheaper than typical across Wyoming”).
A range such as “Middle 50% of hospitals: $140–$1647.”

This makes it easy to see whether a hospital is:

roughly in line with the market,
more expensive than average, or
significantly cheaper for that particular service.

You can then click into other hospitals’ pages for the same code and compare.

4. What to ask the hospital before you book

Once you have found a hospital whose cash price looks reasonable, call the billing office and ask a few targeted questions:

“Is this cash price still accurate?”
Prices can change when the hospital updates its transparency file.
“Does this quote include all facility fees?”
Ask specifically about imaging, operating room time, recovery room charges and supplies.
“What other bills might I receive?”
For example:
- a separate bill from the radiologist or surgeon
- a bill from the anesthesiologist
- lab tests or additional imaging
“Can you provide a written Good Faith Estimate?”
This is especially important if you are uninsured or paying cash.

Use the number from CarePriceGuide as a starting point for the conversation, not as your final invoice.

5. When price is not the only factor

Price matters, but it is not the only factor you should consider:

Quality and outcomes – some hospitals may have better track records for specific procedures.
Travel distance – a lower price may not be worth it if it requires long travel or overnight stays.
Timing and availability – in some cases, getting the procedure done sooner is more important than saving money.

CarePriceGuide focuses on the pricing side of the equation. For quality, you may want to look at hospital rating sites, state health department data and recommendations from your doctor.

6. Key takeaways

Hospitals in Wyoming are required to publish price data, but the raw machine-readable files are difficult for patients to use.
CarePriceGuide reads those files and surfaces a comparable cash price for each hospital and procedure.
Searching by CPT or HCPCS code is the most reliable way to compare prices.
Always confirm the total cost directly with the hospital and request a Good Faith Estimate before scheduling care.
Price is just one factor; you should also consider quality, distance, timing and your personal situation.

If you are planning a specific procedure, start by searching for the code or description on our Prices or Search page and see how your local hospitals compare.