Fifteen hospitals and health systems have been honored by patientrightsadvocate.org with the "Price Transparency Champion Award."
The advocacy group said the recipients published their "actual, upfront prices in an exemplary manner," protecting patients from overcharges, according to an Aug. 22 news release from the organization.
The hospitals and health systems that were recognized are:
Hospitals
- Baton Rouge (La.) General-Mid City
- Grandview Medical Center (Birmingham, Ala.)
- Mercy Hospital Downtown Bakersfield (Calif.)
- MetroHealth Medical Center (Cleveland)
- Pullman (Wash.) Regional Hospital
- Ridgeview Medical Center (Waconia, Minn.)
- Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital New Brunswick (N.J.)
- Rush University Medical Center (Chicago)
- St. Tammany Parish Hospital (Covington, La.)
- UW Health University Hospital (Madison, Wis.)
Health systems
- Kaiser Permanente (Oakland, Calif.) — 98 percent compliance
- Community Health Systems (Franklin, Tenn.) — 97 percent compliance
- Universal Health Services (King of Prussia, Pa.) — 92 percent compliance
- CommonSpirit Health (Chicago) — 88 percent compliance
- Lifepoint Health (Brentwood, Tenn.) — 83 percent compliance
The awards come one month after patientrightsadvocate.org published a report that found that only 721 (36 percent) of the 2,000 hospitals examined were fully complying with the price transparency rule.
The American Hospital Association pushed back against the report, alleging it "blatantly misconstrues, ignores and mischaracterizes hospitals' compliance with federal price transparency regulations." The AHA pointed to a report published in Health Affairs in February from two CMS officials that found that as of last year, 70 percent of hospitals had complied with both federal requirements and more than 80 percent complied with at least one.