# FindMyDirectDoctor Hospital Price Comparison API

> FindMyDirectDoctor Hospital Price Comparison API is a paid API for AI agents from api.findmydirectdoctor.com, paid per call via x402, $0.05/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-10-31).

Compares a quoted hospital service price against posted cash prices within 50 miles of a location, returning a percentile rank, local median/range, a plain-language label, and actionable next steps.

## Facts

- Endpoint: GET https://api.findmydirectdoctor.com/v1/hospital-prices/check?utm_source=zero.xyz
- Price: $0.05/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-10-31
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/findmydirectdoctor-hospital-price-comparison-api-7a29a3b8
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_zz-nCtEWKJ5UQH7tEVMZw

Status and success rate cover calls made through Zero and Zero's own probes. Third-party monitors may report differently.

## How to call it through Zero

Zero handles the 402 payment challenge and records the run. With the Zero CLI installed (`npm i -g @zeroxyz/cli`):

```sh
zero fetch --capability findmydirectdoctor-hospital-price-comparison-api-7a29a3b8
```

Example prompt: I just got a quote of $3,200 for a knee MRI with contrast (CPT 73721) from a hospital near ZIP 90210 — can you check whether that price is typical, high, or low compared to what other hospitals in that area post as their cash prices, and tell me what I should do next?

## When to prefer this

Choose this endpoint when you need to contextualize a specific hospital price quote against real, federally-mandated posted cash prices from nearby hospitals — particularly for uninsured or self-pay patients, those negotiating bills, or anyone trying to understand whether a price is fair before or after a procedure. It is purpose-built for the 28 most common hospital services covered by federal price transparency rules and gives actionable consumer guidance, not just raw data. Prefer this over general cost-estimator tools when location-specific percentile benchmarking and next-step guidance (charity care links, self-pay discount prompts) are needed.

## Known failure modes

- No hospitals found within 50 miles or the state for the given location — comparison basis falls back to state or returns insufficient data
- Unrecognized service name — free-text resolution fails to map to a supported CPT/HCPCS code
- Invalid ZIP code or coordinates outside the US — location validation error
- Both code and service provided simultaneously — schema validation rejects the request
- Quoted price of zero or negative — excluded by exclusiveMinimum constraint
- Billing code not in the 28 supported codes — returns error or empty comparison set

## How this service works

Compares a price quote for a hospital service with hospital cash prices posted within 50 miles of a ZIP code, falling back to the state. Returns the percentile of the quote, the local median and range, a neutral label (below typical, typical, above typical, far above typical) and plain next steps such as asking for an itemized bill, asking about a self-pay discount and financial assistance (charity care) links. Not legal or medical advice.

## Output

Returns a JSON object containing the interpreted query (resolved billing code, location, quoted price), a label (below_typical, typical, above_typical, or far_above_typical), percentile rank among comparable hospitals, comparison statistics (median, P25, P75, P90, low, high, number of hospitals used), the geographic basis of the comparison (within 50 miles or state fallback), plain-language label text, percentile text, actionable next steps (itemized bill request, self-pay discount inquiry, charity care links), data freshness date, source attribution, and a disclaimer.

## Request schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
 "required": [
  "input"
 ],
 "properties": {
  "input": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type",
    "method"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "type": {
     "type": "string",
     "const": "http"
    },
    "method": {
     "enum": [
      "GET"
     ],
     "type": "string"
    },
    "queryParams": {
     "type": "object",
     "required": [
      "quoted_price"
     ],
     "properties": {
      "lat": {
       "type": "number",
       "maximum": 90,
       "minimum": -90,
       "description": "Latitude in decimal degrees. Used together with lng."
      },
      "lng": {
       "type": "number",
       "maximum": 180,
       "minimum": -180,
       "description": "Longitude in decimal degrees. Used together with lat."
      },
      "zip": {
       "type": "string",
       "pattern": "^\\d{5}$",
       "description": "5-digit US ZIP code. A location is given as zip, or lat with lng, or city with state."
      },
      "city": {
       "type": "string",
       "maxLength": 80,
       "description": "City name. Used together with state."
      },
      "code": {
       "type": "string",
       "pattern": "^[A-Za-z0-9]{5}$",
       "description": "CPT or HCPCS billing code of one of the 28 supported services, for example 70551 (brain MRI, no contrast). Give code or service, not both. GET /v1/hospital-prices/codes lists them."
      },
      "state": {
       "type": "string",
       "pattern": "^[A-Za-z]{2}$",
       "description": "2-letter US state code. Used together with city."
      },
      "service": {
       "type": "string",
       "maxLength": 120,
       "description": "The service in plain words, for example brain MRI without contrast. The free dictionary resolves it to a code, and the response shows the resolved code and close alternatives."
      },
      "quoted_price": {
       "type": "number",
       "maximum": 10000000,
       "description": "The price quoted for the service, in US dollars.",
       "exclusiveMinimum": 0
      }
     }
    }
   },
   "additionalProperties": false
  },
  "output": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "type": {
     "type": "string"
    },
    "example": {
     "type": "object",
     "required": [
      "query",
      "label",
      "percentile",
      "comparison",
      "next_steps",
      "data_as_of",
      "disclaimer"
     ],
     "properties": {
      "label": {
     
… (truncated)
```

## Response schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "json",
 "example": {
  "label": "typical",
  "query": {
   "code": "70551",
   "location": "ZIP 66210",
   "plain_name": "Brain MRI, no contrast",
   "quoted_price_usd": 2500
  },
  "limits": "The comparison uses posted cash prices for the hospital's facility portion only. A quote can include other items, so a difference in price does not by itself say anything about whether a bill is correct. This is not legal or medical advice.",
  "source": "FindMyDirectDoctor Foundation hospital cash price library (hospital price files posted under the federal price transparency rule, 45 CFR 180)",
  "cutoffs": "below_typical: under the 25th percentile. typical: 25th to 75th percentile. above_typical: above the 75th up to the 90th percentile. far_above_typical: above the 90th percentile.",
  "comparison": {
   "basis": "within_50_miles",
   "scope": "hospitals within 50 miles of ZIP 66210",
   "n_used": 26,
   "low_usd": 224,
   "p25_usd": 548.23,
   "p75_usd": 4159.29,
   "p90_usd": 10267.34,
   "high_usd": 13016.93,
   "median_usd": 2483.7
  },
  "data_as_of": "2026-10-02",
  "disclaimer": "Posted hospital self-pay prices for the facility portion only. Final bills can differ. Confirm with the hospital.",
  "label_text": "The quoted price is within the middle range of the posted cash prices in the comparison area.",
  "next_steps": [
   "Ask the hospital for an itemized bill (a list of every charge with its billing code). It shows exactly what the quoted price covers.",
   "Ask whether a self-pay discount (the cash price for patients who do not use insurance) applies to this service.",
   "Ask about financial assistance (charity care). The nearest hospitals' financial assistance pages are listed under financial_assistance_links.",
   "Ask whether the quote covers only the hospital's facility part or also the doctor, radiologist and anesthesia bills, which are often separate."
  ],
  "percentile": 50,
  "resolved_code": {
   "code": "70551",
   "category": "imaging",
   "plain_name": "Brain MRI, no contrast"
  },
  "percentile_text": "The quoted price is higher than about 50 of every 100 posted cash prices in the comparison.",
  "national_median_usd": 1857.03,
  "financial_assistance_links": [
   {
    "city": "Overland Park",
    "name": "Saint Luke's South Hospital",
    "state": "KS",
    "distance_miles": 1.9,
    "financial_assistance": {
     "fap_url": "https://www.saintlukeskc.org/patients-visitors/financial-assistance"
    }
   },
   {
    "city": 
… (truncated)
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/findmydirectdoctor-hospital-price-comparison-api-7a29a3b8/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from api.findmydirectdoctor.com](https://www.zero.xyz/host/api.findmydirectdoctor.com/llms.txt)
