Changes in Ability of Hospitals to Provide Pricing for Total Hip Arthroplasty From 2012 to 2016

Over the past decade there has been increasing demand for price transparency in US health care.^1,2 A 2014 Government Accountability Office report called on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to take concrete steps to collect and disseminate pricing information.³ Most US states have legislation requiring hospitals to report price information. A 2012 study identified more than 60 state health care price transparency websites.⁴ Several private businesses sell price transparency products.⁵

Interestingly, it is unclear whether increasing interest in price transparency has translated into tangible improvements in the ability of hospitals to provide price information. We examined whether a group of 122 hospitals we originally surveyed in 2011⁶ had improved in their ability to provide price for a total hip arthroplasty (THA) when resurveyed in 2016.