The webinar recording and slides from PARA Healthcare Analytics’ presentation on CMS’ 2021 price transparency requirements are freely available:
CMS started introducing price transparency guidelines in 2015 when it required hospitals to provide a list of standard charges upon request. In 2019 hospitals were required to publish standard charges online in a machine-readable format. Now, for 2021, CMS is requiring hospitals to:
- Publish in a machine-readable format a complete listing of all services and charges available at the hospital.
- Publish in a machine-readable format payer-specific reimbursement information and the deidentified min/max for all services and charges, including discounted cash prices, available at the hospital.
- Publish in a machine-readable format the 70 services CMS has defined plus 230+ services at the discretion of the hospital with payer-specific reimbursement information and deidentified min/max rates.
While the CMS guidelines create some uncertainty regarding compliance, this presentation will share PARA’s best thinking about how to comply with federal requirements for creating a web-based system that allows the patient to determine their share of the cost of health care services. This presentation focuses on the demand for creating a web-based system that meets federal requirements for price transparency and allows the patient to determine their share of cost for healthcare services. At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:
- Understand the development of the guidelines.
- Interpret the guidelines.
- Learn how to implement the guidelines to support transparency.
- Understand what the penalty is for not complying.
PARA is offering a volume discounted rate for the PARA Price Transparency Tool through the partnership with WSHA/WHS, based on level of participation at time of engagement. Each member will need to sign this agreement individually. Members have until Nov. 8, 2020 to sign the agreement. Based on level of participation, PARA will adjust the core set-up fee and quarterly maintenance fees according to the discounts listed in the service agreement.
