Hospital report cards 'blunt' price hikes

Score one for the insurance companies. Hospital report cards have apparently "blunted" price hikes for certain heart procedures, a new study finds. The reports, a Medicare initiative called Hospital Compare, apparently gave insurers "leverage" to negotiate better prices with hospitals, while also "adding competitive pressures" on those same hospitals, according to the study, which was led by George Washington University professor Avi Dor. "The policy implications are that a report card can help hold down the cost of medical care," says Dor, who studies health policy and economics. Since Hospital Compare was implemented in 2005, researchers have studied its impact on patient mortality and how people chose their hospitals.