Abstract: A method is provided for the ranking of health care providers, the method comprising: identification of a user and logging of the user into a database having user information stored therein; entering of additional user demographic information necessary for a comparison of health care provider services; selecting a desired medical procedure for comparison between providers; presenting to the user of a facility ranking for the desired medical procedure based upon quality and cost; storage of ranking information for future retrieval by the user; and forwarding the ranking information to an insurance carrier to which the user subscribes.

Abstract: Apparatus and methods for including a code having at least one code frequency component in an audio signal are provided. The abilities of various frequency components in the audio signal to mask the code frequency component to human hearing are evaluated and based on these evaluations an amplitude is assigned to the code frequency component. Methods and apparatus for detecting a code in an encoded audio signal are also provided. A code frequency component in the encoded audio signal is detected based on an expected code amplitude or on a noise amplitude within a range of audio frequencies including the frequency of the code component.