How a health system goes above and beyond in its price transparency efforts
By maintaining a patient-centric perspective, hospitals and health systems can find opportunities to look beyond regulatory requirements and incorporate top-class price transparency models, according to a recent online discussion. “We want to, first and foremost, empower and equip our customers to make informed decisions about their healthcare services and really shop for the best value,”…
Healthcare Blame Game: Patient Rights Advocate’s distortion of price transparency regulations and data, and the ad campaign that’s catching attention
Patient Rights Advocate (PRA) has engaged hip hop artists like Fat Joe, Busta Rhymes and Method Man in its “Power to the Patients” campaign, claiming that regulations around price transparency are not being enforced, allowing hospitals to hide their prices and “charge whatever they want.” On this episode, HFMA Policy Director Shawn Stack and Ruth Lande, vice president of hospital relations at RIP Medical Debt, discuss PRA’s misinterpretation of price transparency regulations and hospital pricing.
Employer-sponsored healthcare coverage would benefit from better access to data, Congress is told
Employers can stimulate efforts to improve the value of healthcare, but they need help in the form of better access to claims data and prices, according to testimony at a recent congressional hearing. With those tools in hand, employers can more easily forge provider partnerships that lower costs and raise healthcare quality, health benefit administrators…
Key Senate committee takes a close look at healthcare waste and prices
The U.S. Senate is intent on finding ways to improve the value of healthcare, according to takeaways from a recent hearing of the Budget Committee. Although other committees and subcommittees in both chambers of Congress have held meaningful hearings about healthcare policy and costs this year, the Budget Committee’s attention to the matter is especially…
10 Keys to Restoring Trust in Healthcare
The issue of restoring consumer trust in the U.S. healthcare system encompasses a wide range of concerns. Factors in the perceived loss of trust include anxiety and confusion over costs, entrenched inequity, a glut of misinformation about vaccines and other treatments, and data and privacy breaches. To examine the problem and explore solutions, HFMA’s 16th…
HFMA Comments on Federal Independent Dispute Resolution Operations, Proposed Rule
HFMA presents its comment letter on CMS’ Federal Independent Dispute Resolution Operations Proposed Rule.
CMS finalizes enhanced hospital price transparency requirements for 2024
Hospital price transparency mandates are set to become more stringent in the coming year as CMS seeks to strengthen regulations that have been on the books since 2021. Medicare’s 2024 final rule for hospital outpatient payments includes updates to the price transparency rules. Hospitals will need to post charge information using a more precise template,…
HFMA Comments on Federal Independent Dispute Resolution Process Fees Proposed Rule
HFMA presents its comment letter on CMS’ Federal Independent Dispute Resolution Process Fees Proposed Rule.
Prices of drugs for diabetes, heart failure and more will be up for negotiation in Medicare next year
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Tuesday announced the first 10 Medicare Part D drugs that will be subject to price negotiations, the headlining healthcare-related provision of the Inflation Reduction Act. Signed in August 2022, the law gave Medicare authority to negotiate with drug manufacturers over the prices of selected drugs.…
Key questions for providers after more than 2 years of the price transparency rule
Evidence amassed from over two years of experience with compliance reinforces why providers need to focus on chargemaster prices and self-pay discount policies — and how they can benefit from analyzing trends in consumers’ price searches.