Price Transparency Not Only Falls Short with Hospitals, But Patients Too

As organizations clamber to adhere to price transparency requirements, nearly half of patients have never heard of it.

Healthcare organizations' low compliance with price transparency has been in the spotlight as of late, but an even more concerning statistic comes from the patients: Nearly half (49%) of US consumers have not heard of the price transparency rule at all, according to the recent survey from Cedar.

Conversations around price transparency are commonplace among healthcare professionals, but while 49% of those surveyed have not heard of the price transparency rule, of those who are familiar with it, nearly a quarter (24%) don’t understand it.

Price transparency has yet to move the needle for patients for a variety of reasons, with low compliance and lack of centralized data just to name a few, Cedar told Healthleaders.  

But with nearly 90% of consumers having compared the costs of two items while shopping, the survey said, it's clear that organizations need to give patients what they inherently want: the ability to easily price shop and compare costs when seeking healthcare.  

As the patient financial experience is top of mind for revenue cycle leaders, now is the time to act. According to the survey, 74% of respondents said they wish their hospital better explained its price transparency compliance to them.

On top of this, 77% of consumers said they would price compare two hospitals prior to receiving care at a hospital if that information was available. 71% of consumers consider price transparency and costs when choosing where they go for medical care, the survey said.

So, what can revenue cycle leaders do to help educate their patients regarding price transparency? Florian Otto, CEO and co-founder at Cedar, spoke exclusively to HealthLeaders on this.

"There are many ways in which revenue cycle leaders can help educate their patients regarding price transparency, including leveraging technology to create a digital front door that prioritizes the consumer experience," Otto said.

"By offering personalized care information, consumers can engage with valuable, user-friendly price transparency data before their visit, and this way providers can ensure there is alignment on payment responsibility before a bill is sent."