Early Results On Hospital Price Transparency Are Not Positive.

According to the report, many hospitals failed to comply with the price transparency requirement six to nine months after it was implemented.

According to a study published by JAMA Network, many U.S. hospitals have failed to follow a federal price transparency requirement that took effect on January 1, 2021.

The Final Rule on Hospital Price Transparency intends to improve health care price transparency and make online price shopping easier for patients. Hospitals must provide a consumer-friendly display for at least 300 shoppable services and reveal five types of standard costs for all services in an accessible file.

The study looked at how well the rule was followed six to nine months after it was adopted. Researchers wanted to know if hospitals had posted all five needed pricing kinds in a machine-readable file, as well as a separate accessible display or price estimator for at least 300 shoppable items. Both conditions must be met according to the final rule.

There are 5,239 hospitals:

• 729 (14%) had a machine-readable file attached but no shoppable display.
• There were 1,542 (29.4%) with a shoppable display but no machine-readable file.
• 300 people (5.7%) have both.
• A total of 2,668 hospitals (51%) lacked both an adhering machine-readable file and a shoppable display.

Other discoveries include:

• In both unconcentrated and highly or very highly concentrated markets, the fraction of adherent vs non-adherent facilities was substantial.
• There was no link between total gross income and ultimate rule compliance. Being in the first (lowest) quartile of revenue per patient-day, on the other hand, was linked to higher rates of adherence than being in the other quartiles.
• Adherence was found to be worse in markets that were moderately, extremely, or very highly concentrated.
• In comparison to rural locations, urban locations were associated with improved adherence to the final rule.
• Adherence was not linked to hospital size, emergency service capability, or hospital ownership.

The study found that “adherence to the final rule price transparency obligation six to nine months after its implementation date was poor.” “Acute-care hospitals with lower revenue per patient-day, located in non-concentrated health-care markets and in cities, were more likely to be transparent.” To achieve hospital price transparency, more inspection of institutions lacking these criteria may be required.

Source: https://www.benefitspro.com/2022/06/10/hospital-price-transparency-adherence-early-results-not-promising/