How Will Pricing Transparency Affect Healthcare?

Healthcare pricing transparency is one rule that was long overdue in the public and private sectors to help increase the efficiency of the overall working of the healthcare industry. 

Some new things that have been introduced under the pricing transparency rule which mandates that healthcare organizations display pricing for services they offer on their website. This will ensure that the public can easily access this information without any restrictions.

As per the new rule, hospitals will now be required to disclose all charges to the public, both in the private and public healthcare sectors. These charges include the gross, specific service charges, any payments made in cash and any other negotiated charges during the stay of the patient at the hospital. All this data will be put on the website for everyone to view to avoid any ambiguity that might arise later.

In the aftermath of the healthcare pricing transparency measure, there has been a lot of debate going on as to how it will affect the health sector.

Here are a few ways through which pricing transparency will affect healthcare:

• Compliance challenges

Now that the healthcare price transparency rule has been introduced, there will be new challenges in terms of the compliance that the public and private hospitals will face. When a patient receives a hospital bill, on the face of it, it seems that they are only being charged for the services that have been received and availed. However, that is not the case. There are management, administrative charges, etc. that are also included in the bill.

• Prices may increase

Keeping the above compliance challenges in mind, chances are that there is an uncalled for hike in the prices of the services being offered at hospitals, especially in the private healthcare sector. 

• Overall effect on healthcare consumerism

The main agenda of the healthcare price transparency rule is to break the myth of the health sector consumerism. The only problem that may arise in doing so is the fact that the healthcare system is not based on the conventional rules of doing business.

• Getting a hang of new technology

Another important effect that the healthcare price transparency will have is introducing hospitals, both in the private and public sectors to new technology. Getting new technology won’t be as easy as it used to be before the rule was introduced.

• New payment models

Of course, with every new rule, comes a new way of dealing with customers, consumers and payers of bills. In the scenario of healthcare price transparency, chances are that, at first, customers are introduced to more complex methods of making payments and getting their payments reimbursed.

Keeping all the effects that the healthcare price transparency rule might have on the health industry, there is a massive pushback that this new measure is receiving. 

In conclusion

According to the American Heart Association and the other such organizations, the rule is a direct violation of the First Amendment which protects personal data and sensitive information.

As of now, healthcare organizations, private and public, will have to comply with the new price transparency rule as of January 1, 2021.

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