The study, published in the September issue of Health Policy and Technology, surveyed 423 adult patients who received a CT, PET/CT or MRI at a tertiary academic center between November 2022 and March 2023. The survey analyzed the patients’ awareness of their estimated out-of-pocket cost prior to imaging and the hospital price-estimator tool.
The study found only 10.7% of patients knew their out-of-pocket estimates before getting imaging and only 16.8% were aware of the hospital price-estimator tool. No patient used the price estimator tool to obtain their out-of-pocket costs.
Patients who had an annual household income of $50,000 or more and those with at least one comorbidity had a higher probability of knowing their costs before imaging. Patients who faced financial hardship were less likely to be aware of out-of-pocket costs.
“Our findings emphasize the urgency for targeted interventions to increase price awareness and enhance healthcare decision-making,” the study authors wrote.
The study comes two years after CMS mandated the price estimator tool and out-of-pocket costs awareness.
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