A few weeks back, I was walking in the hallway of our hospital after giving a lecture to our internal medicine residents. The Florence Daily News clipping on the wall mount caught my attention, and I thought of sharing it with everyone. The headline of the clipping says:
Yes, the hospital might be proud to say that because of many reasons:
“Useful Institution” means they might be treating all classes of people in the community and were “Great” because they cared for the people’s biggest worry about the cost of care and access. By this time, it might be clear that I am talking about patient satisfaction and price transparency in hospitals.
The Florence Daily News published the hospital price transparency data 100 years back.
A century back, yes, you heard it right (Printed on May 22, 1921), Eliza Coffee Hospital, located in Florence, AL, and 11 other hospitals, published their hospital prices in Florence Daily Newspaper. The newspaper collected data from 12 hospitals and has published the private room, double room, wards, and x-ray prices (I am assuming they have given both technical and radiologist fees).
- The Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital charged $30 and $35 for a private room, $21 for a double room, $15 for ward beds, operating room $5, $10, $1.60, and $25 for an x-ray.
- The Belmont Sheffield charged $30 for a private room, $25 for a double room, $25 for ward beds, $10 for an operating room, and $5 & $40 for an x-ray.
- The Benevolent Society Hospital, Albany-Decatur, charges $30 for a private room, $20 for a double room, $14 for ward beds, $10 for the operating room, and has no information on x-ray charges.
- The Huntsville Infirmary charged $25-30 for a private room, $25 for a double room, $14 for wards, and $10-15 for an operating room. Surprisingly, Huntsville Infirmary didn’t have an x-ray machine in those days.
- The Baptist Memorial, Memphis, TN, charged $25 for a private room, $21 for a double room, $14-17 for ward beds, $5-10 for the operating room, $5, and $25 for an x-ray machine.
- St. Joseph, Memphis, TN charged $20 for a private room, $12-18 for a double room, $10 for ward beds, $5-10 for the operating room, and $3 & $35 for an x-ray.
- St. Thomas, Nashville, TN charged $25 for a private room, $20 for a double room, $15 for ward beds, $5-10 for the operating room, and $5 & $50 for an x-ray.
- St. Vincent’s, Birmingham, AL charged $35 for a private room, $24 double room, $21 for ward beds, $5-10 for operating room, and $5 & $25 for an x-ray.
- There are four unnamed hospitals whose prices ranged from $30 – $70 for a private room, wards from $17 – $28, operating room from $5- $10, and no information on x-ray charges.
- At St. Vincent’s, the charges for anesthetics ether was $10, gas $25 up at a rate of $30 per hour. Three others charged $10, and the fourth hospital had no gas machine. In every hospital that performed tonsil operations, room rent for 24 hours was charged the same regardless of whether occupancy is 1 hour or 24 hours, similar to Florence Hospital.
Hospital Price Transparency existed 100 years back. Why not now?
These hospitals VOLUNTARILY provided all the pricing information. But, unfortunately, the current hospitals are hesitant to give consumer-friendly data even after strict guidelines from the CMS price transparency mandate.
I wonder what our hospital pricing will look like when all our 6000 hospitals publish data as transparently as ECM and other hospitals did 100 years back? Consumers would benefit immensely from such transparent pricing data and motivate them to seek care without fearing the hidden costs.
Our ZeaMed team has analyzed the pricing data using the price transparency engine, zeatool from more than 5000 hospitals, and was surprised how these hospitals are non-compliant with CMS guidelines. However, once the hospitals publish the data similar to ECM & and other hospitals 100 years back, the hospitals can proudly say- “Our” Hospital A Great And Useful Institution For The Use Of All Classes Of People.
