Dosher Memorial Hospital

Dosher Memorial Hospital Price Transparency Statement

Release date: June 11, 2026

Over the past fifteen years, healthcare price transparency has evolved from a system of privately negotiated "chargemaster" rates to one of legally mandated public disclosure. Following the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010, hospitals were encouraged to increase transparency regarding pricing and negotiated payer rates. States also began collecting and
analyzing healthcare cost data to better understand and compare actual medical expenses.

Initially, hospitals were required only to publish lists of charges, which were often difficult for patients to interpret and provided limited practical value. In 2019, executive orders called for enhanced disclosure of both pricing and quality information by hospitals and payers. These actions led to the implementation of the Hospital Price Transparency Rule in 2021.

The rule established two key requirements. First, hospitals were required to publish a machine-readable file (MRF) containing standard charges, negotiated payer rates, and discounted cash prices for self-pay patients. Second, hospitals were required to provide consumer-friendly pricing information for 300 common "shoppable" services in a format that patients could easily access and understand.

Price transparency requirements continued to expand in the early 2020’s with the implementation of the Transparency in Coverage Rule (2022), increased requirements for digital cost estimation tools (2023–2024), and the No Surprises Act. Together, these regulations require health plans to publish machine-readable files containing in-network negotiated rates and out-of-network allowed amounts, provide online tools that estimate patient out-of-pocket costs in real time, prohibit surprise out-of-network billing for emergency services, and require providers to furnish good-faith cost estimates to uninsured and self-pay patients.

Dosher Memorial Hospital has consistently been committed to complying with all federal price transparency requirements. However, as regulatory expectations have evolved and expanded, Dosher recently identified that certain aspects of its current machine-readable file no longer met the latest formatting and negotiated-rate disclosure standards. To address this issue, the hospital
partnered with Hospital Pricing Specialists, a third-party vendor with expertise in healthcare price transparency compliance.

Hospital Pricing Specialists has been working closely with Dosher to restore full compliance with all current requirements. The project is expected to be completed by June 30, 2026, at which time the updated and compliant data will be re-published on the hospital's website. Dosher will continue its partnership with Hospital Pricing Specialists to ensure ongoing compliance as federal price transparency regulations continue to evolve.

In Summary:

1. Dosher received a CAP request, not a penalty.
2. No finding was made that Dosher intentionally withheld pricing information.
3. A third-party expert has been engaged.
4. Full compliance is expected before the CMS deadline.