While healthcare reform does not require hospitals to post costs for common services until 2014, many providers are stepping in front of the deadline and making prices known to consumers online, according to a Detroit Free Press report.
Many healthcare experts say transparency on health prices will eventually eliminate large cost disparities between providers through competition, prompting many hospitals and providers to jump on board before reform's mandates. For instance, Spectrum Health Hospital Group in Grand Rapids, Mich., has posted prices online for approximately four years. About 1,000 visitors visit the site per month for price information alone.
"If your prices are out of whack, everyone will know it," said Joseph Fifer, vice president of finance for Spectrum, according to the report.
Along with posting prices, many providers are expanding their financial counseling services and offering help to uninsured and underinsured patients with limited household incomes. Hospitals in Michigan, for instance, are putting various discount and financial services in place, such as financial counselors in emergency departments and 75 percent discounts to cash-paying patients for certain imaging tests.
Read the Detroit Free Press report on publicizing hospital prices.
Read more about healthcare costs:
- Humana CEO: Patients Should Question Healthcare Costs, Quality
- Michigan Blue Cross Defends Demand For Hospitals' Lowest Price
Many healthcare experts say transparency on health prices will eventually eliminate large cost disparities between providers through competition, prompting many hospitals and providers to jump on board before reform's mandates. For instance, Spectrum Health Hospital Group in Grand Rapids, Mich., has posted prices online for approximately four years. About 1,000 visitors visit the site per month for price information alone.
"If your prices are out of whack, everyone will know it," said Joseph Fifer, vice president of finance for Spectrum, according to the report.
Along with posting prices, many providers are expanding their financial counseling services and offering help to uninsured and underinsured patients with limited household incomes. Hospitals in Michigan, for instance, are putting various discount and financial services in place, such as financial counselors in emergency departments and 75 percent discounts to cash-paying patients for certain imaging tests.
Read the Detroit Free Press report on publicizing hospital prices.
Read more about healthcare costs:
- Humana CEO: Patients Should Question Healthcare Costs, Quality
- Michigan Blue Cross Defends Demand For Hospitals' Lowest Price