Hospitals' ability to provide price estimates for total hip arthroplasty did not improve between 2012 and 2016, according to a research letter in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Here are five things to know:
1. The last decade has been marked by an increasing demand for price transparency in healthcare; most U.S. states have legislation requiring hospitals to report price information, and a 2012 JAMA study identified more than 60 state healthcare price transparency websites.
2. The researchers investigated whether a group of 122 hospitals they originally surveyed in 2011 had improved in their ability to provide THA prices when resurveyed in 2016. They resurveyed 120 hospitals that remained open and independent.
3. Of the 120 hospitals, the researchers obtained:
- A bundled price from eight, or 6.7 percent
- A complete price from 25, or 20.8 percent by contacting the hospital and physician office separately
- A partial price (hospital or physician only) from 34, or 28.3 percent
- No price from 44.2 percent
4. Between 2012 and 2016, the percentage of hospitals unable to provide any price increased from 14.2 percent to 44.2 percent.
5. The mean hospital price for THA was $33,276.78 in 2012 and $35,105 in 2016.
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