NEW YORK, Feb. 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In 2023, users of FAIR Health's free, award-winning consumer website, fairhealthconsumer.org, sought guidance on how to minimize their healthcare costs, obtain coverage for alternative medicine and request in-network coverage for certain out-of-network services. Original articles such as "Negotiating your costs" and "When out-of-network care can be covered in network" were among the most frequently visited educational topics on FAIR Health Consumer. In addition, consumers demonstrated an appetite for cost information on radiology and emergency services, as well as services related to tooth infection/damage and orthodontics. Other insights into search habits and user demographics in 2023 can be found in FAIR Health's annual infographic on consumer website analytics.

For the 12th consecutive year, FAIR Health and its consumer website won several eHealthcare Leadership Awards for being reliable sources of healthcare information. In 2023, FAIR Health received seven awards, including the Mark Gothberg eHealthcare Organizational Commitment Award, the highest honor awarded, which recognizes industry leadership, innovation and commitment.

Top Medical and Dental Search Terms

FAIR Health Consumer's cost lookup tools allow users to estimate costs for medical and dental care by procedure and geographic location.

In 2023, the top five medical terms searched with the medical cost lookup tool were:

MRI;
Emergency;
CT scan;
Ultrasound; and
Emergency room.
Between 2022 and 2023, "MRI" climbed from third to first place on the list of top medical terms searched on the consumer website. In its stead, "CT scan" ranked as the third most frequently searched term, despite not appearing on the list in 2022. Additionally, "emergency" and "emergency room" were included on the list, exhibiting consumers' interest in understanding costs related to emergency services.

In 2023, the top five dental terms searched with the medical cost lookup tool were:

Implant;
Orthodontic;
Root canal;
Extraction; and
Braces.
The top dental terms were the same in 2022, with the exception of "braces," which replaced "crowns" on the list in 2023.

Age and Gender
The breakdown of age groups that visited FAIR Health Consumer in 2023 was similar to that of 2022, with 25-34-year-olds making up the largest share of website users—their third year in a row as the largest age group. The age distribution of FAIR Health Consumer users in 2023 was:

MRI Homepage