Price Transparency Hits OR
The State of Oregon unveiled a web site that allows patients to compare the cost of medical procedures, according to a piece published in the Portland Business Journal. The project was developed in partnership with the Department of Consumer and Business Services and the Office for Oregon Health Policy and Research.
The web site is part of the State’s effort to encourage healthcare transparency, with this initiative providing consumers with pricing data. The website provides information about prices after a user selects a specific procedure. Prices for a given hospital are detailed, including median and average payments at that institution for the selected procedure.
Pricing information detailed is collected from the nine largest health insurance companies in the State, but does not include Medicare pricing or that for the Oregon Health Plan. Costs are available for 80 different common medical procedures.
The site provides healthcare consumers with the amount that hospitals are reimbursed, based on the agreed upon rates between healthcare facilities and third-party payers. This information may assist in calculation of out of pocket costs for an individual consumr.
Another price comparison site already exists for the State overseen by the Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems, the Price Point web site. This site, however, includes cost information from the perspective of the charges billed by a healthcare facility.
This new website, with pricing calculation based on what hospitals receive from payers, is similar to efforts existing in two other state, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire.
Related stories:
- Pilot Program Details Cost Before Treatment
- Online Pricing Efforts Hit Stumbling Blocks
- Costs Available Online
August 6, 2007 Related topics: General Management & Administration, Partnerships & Consortia