Four sources, one complete picture.
We’ll use a knee MRI in San Francisco as a running example.
Hospitals are legally required to publish their prices. Think of it like the sticker price on a car — it's the starting point, not what most people pay. Starting April 2026, a hospital executive must personally certify these numbers.
Stanford Hospital publishes $3,200 for a knee MRI.
This is what real patients paid out of pocket — after insurance, after the deductible, after everything. It's the number on the check you wrote. The gap between what hospitals publish and what patients pay is often thousands of dollars.
Patients at Stanford report paying $800 to $2,400 for a knee MRI, depending on insurance.
Where we don't yet have enough patient reports, we estimate costs based on published rates, regional insurance patterns, and statistical models. Think of it like a weather forecast — informed by real data, but not the same as looking out the window. Your report turns the forecast into observation.
Based on regional data, we estimate $1,500 for this MRI.
We cross-check against state insurance claims databases — aggregated records from thousands of real insurance transactions. When patient reports match claims data, you can trust the numbers more. When they don't match, it signals something worth investigating.
Insurance claims data confirms a median of $1,200 for knee MRIs across the Bay Area.
Alongside cost, Taco shows hospital quality metrics from independent sources.
The federal government rates every hospital on star ratings (1-5), patient experience surveys, mortality rates, readmission rates, and safety measures. When you see a teal “CMS Verified” badge, the data comes directly from this source.
CMS Hospital Compare covers 4,500+ hospitals. Updated annually for star ratings, quarterly for some individual measures.
An independent nonprofit that grades hospitals A through F on patient safety. Leapfrog uses over 30 measures focused specifically on preventing harm — infections, medication errors, ICU staffing, and maternity care.
Leapfrog grades about 70% of hospitals. Updated twice yearly (spring and fall).
For facilities without verified CMS or Leapfrog data, we estimate quality metrics based on regional averages and facility type. These estimates are clearly labeled so you know the difference. As real data becomes available, estimates are automatically replaced.
Together, these sources give you the most complete picture of healthcare costs and quality available anywhere.
This is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical or financial advice.