President Bush encouraged hospitals and health plans to voluntarily publish their prices during a speech Wednesday at Wendy's International headquarters in Dublin, Ohio. However, he added, "There's always a bill out there in case the volunteerism is not quite as strong as it should be."
The recently released White House National Economic Council document Reforming Health Care for the 21st Century says the president's short term emphasis will be on "disclosure of per-service prices for the most common services and procedures," but expects that soon "consumers would be able to obtain all-inclusive prices for more complex procedures and meaningful quality information for each medical provider."
Price transparency is easier said than done, according to HFMA President and CEO Richard L. Clarke, DHA, FHFMA. "Price transparency is not so much about the underlying charges for a service or episode of care," Clarke said, "as it is about the total payment expected from the consumer after all other payments, adjustments, and discounts are applied. Some leading provider organizations are beginning to offer true price transparency by providing to the consumer an estimate of the final amount of payment expected from an episode of care. But most hospitals don't yet have the people, processes, or technology in place to do this."
Get more information about price transparency at HFMA's Spring Summit on consumer-directed health care and pay for performance.
Read Richard Clarke's HFMA Views post on hospital pricing.
