Prices and reimbursements from the patient’s explanation of benefits forms will be posted on the 207-bed hospital’s website so that patients can compare prices among four competing hospitals, including Alliance Community.
The new policy was announced in a newspaper ad in April and within the first week about 500 EOB forms had been submitted, but only about two dozen of them met Alliance Community’s specifications to qualify for the cash reward.
Spokesmen for Cigna and Summa Health, a competing health system, said they had no objections to Alliance Community collecting the data.
However, the policy has to meet federal antitrust law. The law — as it applies to group practices, at least — requires that a third party collect the information as part of a survey and that data on the forms be at least three months old.
Read American Medical News‘ report on hospital bills.
