A fairly common outpatient procedure, cholecystectomies, or choles, are performed on nearly 150 Utahns each week.

Physicians at Utah's health care facilities performed more than 7,800 gallbladder removals in 2005, according to the report. About 95 percent of those were performed using laparoscopic (lap) surgery.

More than 70 percent of these surgeries occurred in an outpatient setting.

The report - released by UDOH's Health Data Committee - examines 2005 average hospital charges for gallbladder removal procedures in Utah.

The lowest average charge for treating lap outpatients was $2,050 at St. Mark's Outpatient Surgical Center, for example, while the highest average charge was reported by Mountain West Medical Center at $11,470.

The report also helps readers compare the percentage of lap gallbladder removals performed at Utah hospitals in 2005. Overall, Utah had a higher rate - 83 percent - of lap inpatients than similar patients in the U.S. (75 percent).

The full gallbladder report can be found at health .utah.gov/myhealthcare.

Since December 2005, the committee has seven hospital reports comparing heart conditions and surgeries, hip and knee surgeries, maternity and newborns, and pneumonia hospitalizations. Updates are due for release later in the year.

- Lisa Rosetta