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AHRQ Research Studies
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Research Studies is a compilation of published research articles funded by AHRQ or authored by AHRQ researchers.
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1 to 2 of 2 Research Studies DisplayedHaque W, Ahmadzada M, Janumpally S
Adherence to a federal hospital price transparency rule and associated financial and marketplace factors.
This research letter describes a study that evaluated adherence to the federal Hospital Price Transparency Rule 6 to 9 months after the final rule effective date (January 1, 2021). The rule’s aim is to increase health price transparency and facilitation patient price shopping online. Hospitals were required to post 5 price types: gross charges, discounted prices, payer-specific negotiated prices, minimum and maximum prices in a machine-readable file, and a separate accessible display or price estimator for at least 300 shoppable items. The authors used the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) to measure inpatient hospital market concentration. The data was collected for 185 of 929 core-based statistical areas from 2019. HHI is divided into the following categories: unconcentrated, moderately concentrated, or highly or very concentrated. Results showed that out of 5239 total hospitals, 729 (13.9%) had an adherent machine-readable file but no shoppable display, 1542 (29.4%) had an adherent shoppable display but no machine-readable file, and 300 (5.7%) had both. The most adherent hospitals tended to be acute care hospitals with lesser revenue per patient-day, within unconcentrated health care markets, and in urban areas.
AHRQ-funded; HS026980.
Citation: Haque W, Ahmadzada M, Janumpally S .
Adherence to a federal hospital price transparency rule and associated financial and marketplace factors.
JAMA 2022 Jun 7;327(21):2143-45. doi: 10.1001/jama.2022.5363..
Keywords: Policy, Hospitals, Healthcare Costs
Eliason EL, MacDougall H, Peterson L
Understanding the aggressive practices of nonprofit hospitals in pursuit of patient debt.
This study examined the prevalence of extraordinary collection actions (ECAs) and characteristics of nonprofit hospitals that reported this behavior from 2010 to 2016. The authors used Community Benefit Insight data to compare these hospitals with ones that did not report these practices. ECAs include reporting patient debt to credit and collection agencies, filing lawsuits, placing liens on residences, and issuing civil arrest. Hospitals that reported ECAs significantly differed in total revenue, system membership, bed size, urban location, financial assistance policy use, and use of poverty guidelines for discounted care. Lower total hospital revenue was a significant predictor of ECAs.
AHRQ-funded; HS000084.
Citation: Eliason EL, MacDougall H, Peterson L .
Understanding the aggressive practices of nonprofit hospitals in pursuit of patient debt.
Health Soc Work 2022 Jan 31;47(1):36-44. doi: 10.1093/hsw/hlab034..
Keywords: Hospitals, Healthcare Costs, Policy