Under the Fiscal Year 2019 Inpatient Prospective Payment System rule effective from January 1, 2019, D.C. hospitals are required to share a list of their standard prices online and also make available online medical records for patients.
The new law is part of a Medicare system which aims to bring transparency in pricing in the healthcare system.
“We are just beginning on price transparency. We know that hospitals have this information and we’re asking them to post what they have online,” said Seema Verma, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Several health care providers are already offering public computerized records online for patients. Starting from 2021, hospital’s payments will come under Medicare.
“This payment proposal takes important steps toward a Medicare system that puts patients in charge of their care and allows them to receive the quality and price information needed to drive competition and increase value,” said U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Secretary Alex Azar in a press release.
“Through boosting interoperability and maximizing the promise of health IT, promoting price and quality transparency, pioneering new models, and removing government burdens, we are going to move toward a system that provides better care for Americans at a lower cost.”
"A new rule going into effect January 1, 2019, will require hospitals to post a list of their standard prices online and make electronic medical records more readily available to patients."https://t.co/bTRSe95Zvq
— Tony Okolo, MD (@Mr_Warhel) December 31, 2018
Under the new rules, the hospitals are obligated to publish online their standard list of prices in a machine-readable format. Patients will also be provided with better information about all the out-of-pocket costs.