The CMS started the process of searching for a company to help create a price comparison tool for consumers. It has released a sources sought notice to see if any companies have the expertise to perform such work. A formal request for proposals for the work could be released later depending on the responses the agency receives to the CMS query on what would be a transparency-focused web portal. Interested companies must respond by Sept. 24. The notice comes as the CMS is pushing hospitals to be more transparent about what they charge patients. The agency has updated its previous price transparency guideline, drawn from the Affordable Care Act, by requiring hospitals to publish a list of standard charges in an online, machine-readable format starting Jan. 1. They must update that charge information, drawn from their retail chargemaster list, at least annually. It's unclear if the two initiatives are linked. The CMS said this month in a rulemaking that it's considering future actions on how hospitals can best display price information that would be most useful to consumers, allowing them to more easily compare providers on price and quality. A CMS spokesman confirmed the notice was about potentially offering a contract for price transparency services but could not comment further. Contractors responding to the sources sought notice must have experience with transmitting and storing medical provider information and using bid or auction data for healthcare procedures. Responding companies should also have specific experience supporting provider pricing and transparency efforts and currently offer support for the development and maintenance of web-based price comparison tools, bidding systems and applications. Steven Weissman, an attorney and former hospital president, expressed disappointment after seeing the sources sought notice. He doesn't think any potential hospital price comparison tool will ultimately help consumers. "Ask any hospital, lab or physician the price of anything and all you ever get back is a question: 'What insurance do you have?' " Weissman said. "Each patient's price depends on how much can be extracted." The American Hospital Association and other hospital industry backer have mirrored these remarks. They argue that payers should be the primary source of information for patients about prices and out-of-pocket costs. They also said data on charges and payments from providers are proprietary, and that such information would not be useful to consumers interested in what they will have to pay out of pocket. But the CMS rejected those arguments in a rulemaking this month, saying nothing justifies a delay in the provision of chargemaster information to the public.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has begun its search for a firm that can build a price comparison tool for consumers. A sources sought notice was released to find any companies with the knowledge to create a transparency-focused web portal, and a formal request for proposals could be released later depending on responses. Interested parties – who need to have experience in storing and transmitting medical provider data, and using bid and auction information for health care procedures – need to respond by 24 September. The move comes as the agency urges hospitals to be more transparent about their charges to patients. It has updated its price transparency guidelines, inspired by the Affordable Care Act, by needing hospitals to publish a list of standard charges in an online format from 1 January. The information, which also needs to be machine-readable, must be updated at least yearly. It is not clear whether the two initiatives are connected. The CMS previously said that it was considering possible future actions on how hospitals could best highlight cost data that would be most useful to consumers – enabling them to easily compare prices and quality of providers. But some expressed disappointment with the plan. Steven Weissman, a former hospital president, said he did not think a hospital price comparison tool would help consumers. Meanwhile, the American Hospital Association, as well as others in the industry, argued that payers should be the main source of price information for patients. In April, the US Department of Health and Human Services, under President Barack Obama, announced plans to overhaul Obamacare.