BRG One of 18 Hospitals Nationwide Recognized for Work on Price Transparency

BATON ROUGE, La. – Baton Rouge General (BRG) is one of 18 hospitals in the country and the only in the Baton Rouge area to be recognized with the Price Transparency Champion Award from Patient Rights Advocate (PRA). This award recognizes U.S. hospitals and hospital systems for their commitment to fully complying with federal price transparency requirements.

In one recent poll, 53% of patients said they avoided care because they weren’t sure what it would cost. Price transparency means that consumers get more transparent pricing information before a surgery or service, which can ultimately lower healthcare costs by allowing them to compare prices and shop around, much like they would for other non-healthcare services.

“Billing in healthcare can be confusing and frustrating, and historically it was difficult to compare prices between hospitals and other healthcare providers,” said Kendall Johnson, chief financial officer at BRG. “We’re proud to have led the charge with our model of price transparency, allowing patients to compare actual procedure costs when they choose BRG versus other hospitals in the region.”

For years, hospitals were only required to publicly list their standard charges and/or policies upon request. Then in January 2020, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) required hospitals to publicly post standard charges for services in a machine-readable format, which in essence is a spreadsheet with hard-to-follow services, procedures and prices that don’t factor in insurance coverage and lack a searchable format.

In October 2020, BRG led the local healthcare market by introducing its online Price Estimator Tool, a user-friendly, easy-to-understand tool that allows users to get an accurate estimate for a service before scheduling, based on their specific benefits through their insurance plans. The following January, CMS expanded price transparency to require hospitals to post standard charges for services via an online, searchable platform. A recent PRA report showed that, despite the federal rules, only 36% of the 2,000 U.S. hospitals reviewed are in full compliance with the price transparency requirement.

See the full list here. For more information, visit BRgeneral.org.

About Baton Rouge General Medical Center
Baton Rouge General Medical Center is the area’s first community hospital with over 600 licensed beds between three campuses. Baton Rouge General opened its doors in 1900, and has provided the Greater Baton Rouge community with high-quality healthcare for generations. An accredited teaching hospital since 1991, Baton Rouge General is affiliated with several medical school programs, and offers other medical education programs, including a School of Nursing, School of Radiologic Technology, Family Medicine Residency Program, Internal Medicine Residency Program, and Sports Medicine Fellowship Program. For more information, visit BRGeneral.org, find us on Facebook at Facebook.com/BatonRougeGeneral and follow us on Twitter @BRGeneral and Instagram @batonrougegeneral.

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