As we near the fourth quarter of 2020, HBI has begun to receive an influx of questions from revenue cycle leaders who want to know what others are doing to comply with the CMS price transparency rule going into effect January 1, 2021. There are two overarching requirements hospitals will need to comply with: Publicizing […]
Tag: Price Transparency
Avoid Surprises: Out-of-Network Provider Bills May Shock Your Patients
Patient experience is currently a high priority for healthcare leaders – not to mention regulators – and organizations are focused on initiatives to improve price transparency, accurately estimate patients’ out-of-pocket expenses, and prevent surprise billing. There will be multiple bills aimed at protecting patients from surprise billing presented to Congress as it begins its 2020 […]
Making Costs Transparent for Patients: Q&A With HBI’s Noelle Wysocki
In the wake of new price transparency regulations, patients have questions about the cost of their care, especially what they owe out of pocket. Since high-deductible health plans are very common, many patients likely owe more than they had in the past. Healthcare organizations must be able to help patients understand the cost of their […]
How Well Does Your Organization Provide Price Transparency?
HBI’s newly released 2019 Price Transparency Report seeks to help answer this question. It features two independent studies that show how organizations’ performance with price transparency is not yet where it should be. In one study, HBI examined the websites of 272 hospitals and found that approximately 49% are not fully compliant with CMS’ 2019 […]
Hospitals Must Post Standard Charges by 2021
In a Final Rule released Friday, November 15th, CMS implemented the majority of its price transparency proposals but gave hospitals an extra year to comply. By January 1st, 2021, hospitals must: Post standard charges for all items and services, which include: Gross chargemaster prices Payer-specific negotiated rates (which must also be labeled by plan) Discounted […]
Federal Government Weighing Stronger Price Transparency Rules
The federal government’s next action to improve price transparency among providers may be requiring organizations to publicize the contracted prices they charge insurance companies for services. A request for comment on this idea and other price transparency initiatives was slipped into a proposal to prevent health information blocking released in February by the Office of […]
Pulse Check: Price Transparency
Now that the CMS has stated that prices for all items and procedures must be posted online, it is important to ensure patients understand what these prices mean to them. We’ve seen healthcare organizations be effective creating a financial assistance committee that can partner with the community to determine the most efficient way to communicate […]
Three Lessons You’ll Learn During HBI’s Price Transparency Roundtable
Hospital prices have been coming under increased scrutiny amid rising patient consumerism and regulatory attention. Most recently, CMS issued a new regulation requiring providers to publicize standard charges online on January 1, 2019. In this climate of transparency, organizations’ strategies for informing patients of their care costs are more important than ever. Leaders from University […]
Reimbursement & Regulations: Price Transparency, IMRT planning, E&M
The CMS has made final their rule to require all hospitals to publish a list of standard charges in a machine-readable format online at least once a year. This requirement will be in place as of January 1, 2019, so it is important to get your organization moving. The CMS created this rule in order […]