The revised CMS price transparency rule took effect on July 1, mandating that hospitals provide price information in a uniform machine-readable format, as reported by the American Hospital Association.

This rule is part of the 2024 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System and ASC rule, with CMS aiming to enhance public accessibility to hospital charges through the new file format requirements.

What’s Changing?

Hospitals are now required to present price transparency data as a single file, structured for machine processing of standard charge information. Compliance with a standard CMS template layout, including data specifications and a data dictionary, is mandatory.

Additionally, the final rule requires hospitals to include a "footer" link on their homepage, directing users to the webpage with the machine-readable file, and to ensure a .txt file is available in the root directory of their website, as detailed by a CMS information page.

MEDHOST Price Transparency Solution

MEDHOST's Price Transparency solutions help providers comply with Price Transparency Policy by offering a public-facing, web-based search page for 300 "shoppable services." Providers can automatically generate and embed machine-readable, standard charges, integrating seamlessly with contract management tools for accurate pricing estimates. This solution minimizes workflow disruptions by avoiding cumbersome third-party integrations.