There are many situations when knowing more about quality and prices helps you to; budget in advance, shop for a specific procedure, check costs of ongoing treatments, or choose a different facility. The data and tools can help you focus your effort and save time, but don’t replace getting references and having direct and candid discussions.

In the medical area, virtually all procedures carry codes. Having the codes your doctor uses will save time and increases the accuracy of comparisons and costs. Each year CMS collects cost data for outpatient procedures and provides a site to compare national averages and what Medicare pays for a specific coded procedure. (In addition, CMS provides tools to help comparison shop Medicare plans, Find and Compare (medical and care) Providers, and Find Medical Equipment Suppliers).

Fair Health Consumer collects information on medical and dental services nationally and provides a consumer site to look up relevant cost benchmarks. For medical services it displays differences between inpatient and outpatient care, and in-network and out-of-network costs as well as local costs. For dental services it provides a similar comparison. It also has a shopping function that can add related codes for a procedure.

GoodRx and similar discount programs that gather current prices at different pharmacies to help you find the lowest cost pharmacy for your prescriptions. Discount programs like this help when drugs prescribed by a doctor aren’t in the formulary of your Part D plan (also for human drugs to use with pets).

A compendium of specialist directories from NIH’s National Library of Medicine can help locate specialized doctors and facilities near you through their respective associations and societies. With that information you can contact local professionals to discuss the specific expertise you want and the cost.