News and Music Discovery
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Regional Hospital Reacts to New Law Requiring Hospitals to Post Prices

Owensboro Health Regional Hospital
Owensboro Health
Owensboro Health Regional Hospital
Owensboro Health Regional Hospital
Credit Owensboro Health

Owensboro Health Regional Hospital has been working with a third party since August of 2018 to create a dashboard with prices and market comparisons. The hospital is complying with a new federal law requiring hospitals across the country to post prices for stays, procedures, drugs, services and supplies.“This is an opportunity for us to empower our consumers and patients, to understand more about pricing. And we want to be a very transparent and open organization,” said director of marketing and public relations Brian Hamby.

He said the hospital has been expecting this change for a couple of years, but implementing the new law has been a challenge.“To understand pricing and procedures and what’s being charged for what. We know that, that’s a complex world that people have to navigate,” he said. “So determining the best way to present that information where it's digestible was our biggest challenge and we think we’ve met that.”

 

Hamby said patients should be aware that the increased transparency is just one tool in understanding health care costs. He said consumers that want a better idea of their out-of-pocket costs should talk to the hospital and their health insurance provider.

 

Copyright 2019 WKU Public Radio

Becca Schimmel is a Becca Schimmel is a multimedia journalist with the Ohio Valley ReSource a collaborative of public radio stations in Kentucky, West Virginia and Ohio. She's based out of the WKU Public Radio newsroom in Bowling Green.
Becca Schimmel
Becca Schimmel is a multimedia journalist with the Ohio Valley ReSource, a collaborative of public radio stations in Kentucky, West Virginia and Ohio. She's based out of the WKU Public Radio newsroom in Bowling Green.
Related Content