Surgical price transparency tied to improved volume, revenue

(HealthDay)—Ambulatory surgery centers experience increases in patient volume, patient satisfaction, and revenue after adopting price transparency, according to a study published recently in The American Surgeon.

Ambar Mehta, M.D., from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and colleagues used data from six ambulatory surgery centers to characterize the impact of price transparency on a surgery center's patient volume, revenue, and patient satisfaction.

The researchers found that five centers reported an increase in patient volume and revenue after adopting price transparency, with a median increase of 50 percent in patient volume at one year (range, 10 to 200 percent). An increase in revenue (median 30 percent) was reported by four centers (range, 4 to 75 percent). Three centers reported an increase of new third-party administrator contracts (average; seven contracts; range, two to 12 contracts). Three centers reported a reduction in their administrative burden. Five of the six centers reported an increase in patient satisfaction and patient engagement after the initiation of price transparency. Discouragement from other practices, hospitals, or insurance companies was the leading barrier to making prices transparent.

"The findings of this study provide important insights to medical providers in designing and implementing price transparency initiatives," the authors write.

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