The current price transparency rule established by CMS requires providers to make “standard charges” available in response to a patient inquiry. Effective Jan 1, 2019, CMS will require hospitals to make a list of their current standard charges available on the internet in a machine-readable format.
CMS defines machine-readable format as a digitally accessible document but more narrowly defined to include only formats that can be easily imported/read into a computer system (e.g., XML, CSV). A PDF, on the other hand, can be a digitally accessible document but cannot be easily imported/read into a computer system.
The new CMS requirements apply to all items and services provided by Wayne County Hospital. CMS believes that this will help patients understand what their potential financial liability might be for services they obtain at the hospital and enable them to compare charges for similar services across hospitals.
Wayne County Hospital believes standard charges alone are not useful to the patient and would only to a certain degree help in understanding the magnitude of costs and multiple bills associated with a service. Above and beyond compliance with the new CMS rule, we continue to exceed price transparency expectations and are standardizing our efforts to make available the price information that is most useful to patients – an estimate of their out-of-pocket (OOP) responsibility. Please contact our billing office at 641-872-5293 for more information.