Abstract：
OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to assess hospital compliance with federal price transparency mandates and barriers to pricing information in Tennessee.
METHODS: All hospitals websites were queried for gross, cash, and BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee prices for 8 high-frequency laboratory tests in 2 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services-mandated pricing sources: (1) a machine-readable file of all available services and (2) a consumer-friendly display of 300 shoppable services. Barriers, including click counts, data availability, and intrahospital price discrepancies, were noted.
RESULTS: Of the 145 Tennessee hospitals assessed, 97.2% were noncompliant with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services final rule. Subanalysis of available machine-readable files, price estimators, and shoppable services files demonstrated 49.6%, 95.1%, and 78.6% noncompliance, respectively. Barriers to pricing information included requiring protected health information (55.9%), missing at least 1 pricing source (7.6%), having no pricing sources available (6.2%), and involving more than 3 clicks to access the cash price in machine-readable files (54.1%) and price estimators (68.6%.) Average intrahospital discrepancy for basic metabolic panel cash prices across pricing sources was $101.30 (range, $0-1012.40).
CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed high levels of noncompliance with price transparency laws, inconsistent and inaccessible pricing, and continued challenges facing patients in Tennessee.
METHODS: All hospitals websites were queried for gross, cash, and BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee prices for 8 high-frequency laboratory tests in 2 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services-mandated pricing sources: (1) a machine-readable file of all available services and (2) a consumer-friendly display of 300 shoppable services. Barriers, including click counts, data availability, and intrahospital price discrepancies, were noted.
RESULTS: Of the 145 Tennessee hospitals assessed, 97.2% were noncompliant with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services final rule. Subanalysis of available machine-readable files, price estimators, and shoppable services files demonstrated 49.6%, 95.1%, and 78.6% noncompliance, respectively. Barriers to pricing information included requiring protected health information (55.9%), missing at least 1 pricing source (7.6%), having no pricing sources available (6.2%), and involving more than 3 clicks to access the cash price in machine-readable files (54.1%) and price estimators (68.6%.) Average intrahospital discrepancy for basic metabolic panel cash prices across pricing sources was $101.30 (range, $0-1012.40).
CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed high levels of noncompliance with price transparency laws, inconsistent and inaccessible pricing, and continued challenges facing patients in Tennessee.
摘要：
目的：本研究的目的是评估田纳西州医院对联邦价格透明度要求和价格信息障碍的遵守情况。
方法：所有医院网站都被查询为cash,田纳西州的BlueCrossBlueShield在2个医疗保险和医疗补助服务中心规定的定价来源中为8项高频实验室测试定价：（1）所有可用服务的机器可读文件，以及（2）对消费者友好的300个可购物服务显示。屏障,包括点击计数，数据可用性，和医院内价格差异，被注意到。
结果：在田纳西州评估的145家医院中，97.2%的人不符合医疗保险和医疗补助服务中心的最终规定。对可用的机器可读文件进行子分析，价格估算器，购物服务文件显示49.6%，95.1%,78.6%的违规行为，分别。定价信息的障碍包括需要受保护的健康信息(55.9%)，缺少至少1个定价来源(7.6%)，没有可用的定价来源(6.2%)，并涉及超过3次点击以机器可读文件（54.1%）和价格估算器（68.6%。)不同定价来源的基础代谢小组现金价格的平均医院内差异为101.30美元(范围，0-1012.40美元）。
结论：我们的研究表明，高度不遵守价格透明度法律，不一致和不可访问的定价，以及田纳西州患者面临的持续挑战。
方法：所有医院网站都被查询为cash,田纳西州的BlueCrossBlueShield在2个医疗保险和医疗补助服务中心规定的定价来源中为8项高频实验室测试定价：（1）所有可用服务的机器可读文件，以及（2）对消费者友好的300个可购物服务显示。屏障,包括点击计数，数据可用性，和医院内价格差异，被注意到。
结果：在田纳西州评估的145家医院中，97.2%的人不符合医疗保险和医疗补助服务中心的最终规定。对可用的机器可读文件进行子分析，价格估算器，购物服务文件显示49.6%，95.1%,78.6%的违规行为，分别。定价信息的障碍包括需要受保护的健康信息(55.9%)，缺少至少1个定价来源(7.6%)，没有可用的定价来源(6.2%)，并涉及超过3次点击以机器可读文件（54.1%）和价格估算器（68.6%。)不同定价来源的基础代谢小组现金价格的平均医院内差异为101.30美元(范围，0-1012.40美元）。
结论：我们的研究表明，高度不遵守价格透明度法律，不一致和不可访问的定价，以及田纳西州患者面临的持续挑战。
