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Media Contact:
Tim Ahlers, Director of Marketing and Community Relations
319-688-7340 or e-mail: tim.ahlers@mercyic.org
IOWA HOSPITALS VOLUNTARILY POST PRICING INFORMATION
January 11, 2007/Iowa City, IA: On January 10 the Iowa Hospital Association (IHA) unveiled a new Web site providing free access to an unprecedented level of detail about charges and services at Iowa hospitals.
The Web site, known as “Iowa Hospital PricePoint,” allows users to easily access charge information about any type of inpatient hospitalization at any Iowa hospital. To do so, visit www.ihaonline.org and click on the “Iowa Hospital PricePoint” banner.
“Iowa hospitals are committed to playing a leading role in promoting health care pricing transparency,” said Kirk Norris, IHA president and CEO. “PricePoint is an important and easy-to-use tool that can help consumers, employers and insurers with health care decisions.”
PricePoint is unique among similar Web sites across the country in that it provides aggregate “discount” information for each hospital for the three major kinds of health care coverage – private insurance, Medicare, and Medicaid. This allows users to understand how hospitals’ charges compare to the amount of revenue they actually collect for services provided in these three categories.
PricePoint displays the four most recently reported quarters of data from all Iowa hospitals. It will allow users to compare hospital inpatient charge data for up to four hospitals at the same time. Users can also compare inpatient charges according the severity of illness within a particular service area. This feature is important, because while hospitals may treat a similar number of patients who have a particular condition, those patients may be very different in terms of severity. Generally, patients with a higher severity of illness will stay in the hospital longer and incur higher charges.
In most cases, out-of-pocket hospital costs for privately insured patients are determined by their health insurance policies. However, a growing number of Iowa residents are being covered by consumer-directed health plans, under which the billed charge may factor into the amount a patient would ultimately pay for a specific procedure. Patients should contact hospitals directly for the most accurate estimate of actual costs for a given procedure. Individuals who want information about Mercy Iowa City charges are invited to call Mercy On Call at 358-2767 or toll free 800-358-2767.
The Iowa Hospital Association is a voluntary membership organization representing hospital and health system interests to business, government, and consumer audiences. All of Iowa’s 117 community hospitals are IHA members.
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