Tag: Price Transparency

Avoid Surprises: Out-of-Network Provider Bills May Shock Your Patients

By: Enrique Bakemeyer
Date: March 19, 2020
Category: Revenue Cycle
Filed under: Patient Consumerism, patient estimates, Patient Experience, Price Transparency, surprise billing

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

By: Enrique Bakemeyer
Date: March 18, 2020
Category: Revenue Cycle
Filed under: customer service, patient-friendly collections, Point of Service Collections, Price Transparency, Revenue Cycle Training

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?

By: Kelli Jenkins
Date: November 20, 2019
Category: Revenue Cycle
Filed under: CMS, CMS Final Rule, Patient Consumerism, Patient Engagement, Patient Experience, price estimation, Price Transparency, Price Transparency Report, Revenue cycle

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

By: Beth Reed
Date: November 18, 2019
Category: Revenue Cycle
Filed under: CMS, estimates, Price Transparency, standard charges

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

By: Courtney Zott
Date: March 13, 2019
Category: Revenue Cycle
Filed under: healthcare prices, hospital pricing, Price Transparency

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

By: Andrew Minten JD
Date: January 2, 2019
Category: Custom Services
Filed under: CMS, financial assistance, Patient Experience, Payers, Price Transparency, Pulse Check

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

By: Courtney Zott
Date: October 8, 2018
Category: Revenue Cycle
Filed under: CMS, price estimation, Price Transparency

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

By: Andrew Minten JD
Date: September 7, 2018
Category: Custom Services
Filed under: charges, CMS, E&M, IMRT, Medicare, OIG, OIG Work Plan, Price Transparency, Radiation Therapy, Reimbursement & Regulations

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 […]

Pulse Check: Improving Revenue Cycle Operations and Maintaining Patient Satisfaction – Common Pitfalls to Avoid (Part 2)

By: Elisabeth Callahan
Date: August 1, 2018
Category: Custom Services
Filed under: Debt Amnesty, Patient Financial Assistance, Patient Financial Experience, Patient Payment Options, Patient Satisfaction, Point of Service Collections, Price Transparency, Pulse Check

Last week I discussed two pitfalls we commonly see at hospitals that threaten patient satisfaction: confusing patient statements and delayed patient refunds. Continuing the focus on the patient financial experience, the list of pitfalls expands. Pitfall 3: Inconsistent point of service collections Time and again, HBI sees patient access staff fail to advise patients of […]