The 2016 Report Card on State Price Transparency Laws, developed by the Health Care Incentives Improvement Institute and Catalyst for Payment Reform, had previously given most states a failing grade.
Oregon now joins the ranks of seven states that received a passing grade and one of only four that got an A or B.
The quality of its transparency website contributed to Oregon’s improved grade. Oregon collects data in an All Payers All Claims Database and publishes it “on a good website for consumers,” the report notes.
“Oregon can earn an even higher score if the state collects practitioner prices in addition to facility prices and does so for a greater number of services and procedures,” the report says.
The Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems created and maintains the website, OregonHospitalGuide.org. The association supported legislation in 2015 to improve transparency.
“We tackled the tricky issue of health care pricing transparency head on in 2015 and I’m proud to know that our hard work did not go unnoticed,” Rep. John Lively, who shepherded the bill through the legislature, said in a written statement. “In a data-driven world, it was unacceptable to think that our state’s health care system could not provide good pricing data for patients to access.”
The state recently released a list of median amounts paid by private insurance plans for dozens of procedures at Oregon hospitals in 2014.
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Elizabeth Hayes
Staff Reporter
Portland Business Journal
Jul 26, 2016