Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is made from your blood and needs a full quote

A written total shows what your money will cover

Ask whether the hip exam, blood preparation, and follow-up visits are included. Have the office list every added fee in writing.

A low starting price isn't always the lowest final bill. Extra visits or another blood preparation can raise what you pay.

Insurance won't always cover the full PRP charge. Name platelet-rich plasma when you call, then ask about the office fee and your share.

Don't leave a deposit until the clinic and insurer give clear answers. Keep both answers beside the complete written quote.

I'd ask how long each appointment usually takes. Travel, a ride home, and time away from home also matter.

The exam should explain why this treatment may suit your hip

Expect questions about the sore spot and which actions bring on the ache. You'll talk about sleep, walking, falls, past treatment, and your health.

The doctor will move your hip and note which motions hurt. An X-ray may help when joint wear or a break is a concern.

Ask what change the doctor expects from PRP after seeing your exam. Then ask when you might notice easier stairs, steadier walking, or better sleep.

Find out whether later questions are handled by phone or in the office. If that help isn't included, ask the clinic to add its charge.

Don't pay because someone simply promises relief. Write down the expected change, full charge, and planned follow-up before leaving home.

Sources

1. A cross-sectional study contacted 273 of 317 US centres offering direct-to-consumer stem-cell therapy, posing as a 57-year-old man with knee osteoarthritis. The mean advertised price of a unilateral same-day stem-cell knee injection was $5,156 (SD $2,446), and centres claimed a mean clinical efficacy of 82% (SD 9.6%) - a figure with no support in the published evidence. The gap between the quoted number and the trial data is the single most useful thing a patient can be told before a consultation.

   Piuzzi NS, et al. — The Stem-Cell Market for the Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis: A Patient Perspective.. The journal of knee surgery, 2018. DOI: 10.1055/s-0037-1604443.

2. Medicare's National Coverage Determination covers autologous platelet-rich plasma ONLY for chronic non-healing diabetic, pressure or venous WOUNDS, and only under Coverage with Evidence Development inside an approved clinical research study. There is no Medicare coverage pathway for PRP as a treatment for osteoarthritis or any other joint indication, which is why these injections are quoted as cash prices.

   Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services — Autologous Platelet-rich Plasma (Coverage with Evidence Development). CMS.gov, 2012.

3. In January 2025 the Federal Trade Commission banned the co-founders of a stem cell institute and their companies from marketing stem cell treatments and ordered them to pay more than $5.1 million in refunds and civil penalties. Deceptive EFFICACY ADVERTISING, not merely unapproved manufacturing, is independently actionable - the FTC polices what a clinic promises as well as what it injects.

   US Federal Trade Commission — Stem Cell Institute Co-Founders and Companies Banned from Marketing Stem Cell Treatments and Ordered to Pay More Than $5.1 Million for Refunds and Civil Penalties. FTC Press Release, 2025.

4. The study that first mapped the scale of the US direct-to-consumer stem cell industry, finding widespread internet marketing of unapproved stem cell interventions by businesses based in the UNITED STATES - previously assumed to be a phenomenon of countries with lax medical regulation - and concluding that regulators must better oversee this marketplace.

   Turner L, et al. — Selling Stem Cells in the USA: Assessing the Direct-to-Consumer Industry.. Cell stem cell, 2016. DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2016.06.007.

5. FDA states plainly that no stem cell, exosome, stromal vascular fraction, umbilical cord blood, Wharton's jelly or amniotic-fluid product has been approved for the treatment of ANY orthopedic condition - it names osteoarthritis, tendonitis, disc disease, tennis elbow, back pain, hip pain, knee pain, neck pain and shoulder pain individually. The only FDA-approved stem cell products in the United States are cord-blood-derived blood-forming stem cells for disorders of the hematopoietic system, and there are currently no FDA-approved exosome products.

   US Food and Drug Administration, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research — Consumer Alert on Regenerative Medicine Products Including Stem Cells and Exosomes. FDA, 2020.

6. A Bayesian network meta-analysis of 11 randomized trials (1353 patients) in hip osteoarthritis found that at 2-4 months and 6 months NO injectable - corticosteroid, hyaluronic acid or platelet-rich plasma - significantly outperformed a saline placebo injection for pain or function. Pooled change from baseline exceeded the minimal clinically important difference in every arm including placebo.

   Gazendam A, et al. — Intra-articular saline injection is as effective as corticosteroids, platelet-rich plasma and hyaluronic acid for hip osteoarthritis pain: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2021. DOI: 10.1136/bjsports-2020-102179.

7. In a Level I randomized trial of 111 hip OA patients given three weekly ultrasound-guided injections, the PRP group had the lowest VAS at every follow-up - at 6 months mean VAS 21 (95% CI 15-28) for PRP versus 44 (36-52) for hyaluronic acid (P<.0005) - but the WOMAC advantage was gone by 12 months and adding HA to PRP produced no benefit.

   Dallari D, et al. — Ultrasound-Guided Injection of Platelet-Rich Plasma and Hyaluronic Acid, Separately and in Combination, for Hip Osteoarthritis: A Randomized Controlled Study.. American Journal of Sports Medicine, 2016. DOI: 10.1177/0363546515620383.

8. FDA states verbatim that regenerative medicine products including stem cells, stromal vascular fraction, umbilical cord blood, Wharton's jelly, amniotic fluid and exosomes have NOT been approved 'for the treatment of any orthopedic condition, such as osteoarthritis, tendonitis, disc disease, tennis elbow, back pain, hip pain, knee pain, neck pain, or shoulder pain.' The only FDA-approved stem cell products in the United States are blood-forming (hematopoietic progenitor) cells derived from umbilical cord blood, approved only for disorders affecting blood production.

   U.S. Food and Drug Administration — Consumer Alert on Regenerative Medicine Products Including Stem Cells and Exosomes.. FDA, 2026.

9. CMS covers autologous platelet-rich plasma ONLY for patients with chronic non-healing diabetic, pressure and/or venous wounds, and only inside an approved coverage-with-evidence-development clinical research study. There is no national Medicare coverage of PRP for hip osteoarthritis or any other joint condition.

   Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services — Autologous Platelet-rich Plasma (Coverage with Evidence Development).. CMS, 2026.