Arizona healthcare consumers can now compare hospitals' charges for specific inpatient services through the Web site AZHospitalChoice.
Launched May 7 by the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association (AzHHA), it features charge information for inpatient services at all licensed Arizona acute care hospitals.
"Today's consumers take an active role in managing all aspects of their healthcare," said John Rivers, AzHHA president and chief executive officer. "They need reliable information in order to make educated choices. This Web site demonstrates that Arizona's hospital community is committed to making hospital charges more transparent and accessible."
Nearly half the states in the country now have Web sites allowing some degree of hospital price-comparison shopping. The other states are Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
Visitors to AZHospitalChoice may review charge information from a single hospital or up to four facilities to allow for comparisons. Once a hospital's information is displayed, users have the option of clicking on a link to the hospital's Web site, where they may find more specific information on hospital billing and charity care policies as well as patient rights and responsibilities.
"AZHospitalChoice was created to help consumers gather the preliminary data they need to have more informed discussions with hospital representatives and insurance providers," said Brain Turney, AzHHA's chairman of the board and president/chief executive officer of Kingman Regional Medical Center. "AzHHA believes consumers benefit when they take an active role in their healthcare, which is why we are pleased to provide them with information to help in their decision making."
AZHospitalChoice is a free service that allows consumers to research the average charges for inpatient services such as childbirth, knee replacement surgery, common pneumonia, heart failure and angioplasty at Arizona hospitals. It will also provide consumers with information on individual hospitals, including average length of stay, average charges, average charge per day, gender (percentage of male and female patients), median charges and median patient age.
Additionally, visitors to AZHospitalChoice will be able to adjust for a hospital's severity of illness for specific conditions or procedures.
Data for AZ Hospital Choice is provided through AzHHA's partnership with the Bureau of Public Health Statistics at the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS).
"The public needs this kind of healthcare information," said Rep. Bob Stump (R-Ariz.), chairman of the House Health Committee. "I'm pleased to see Arizona's hospital community taking this step to inform consumers about cost and quality. I am looking forward to watching AZHospitalChoice evolve as a consumer information tool."
"This is a huge first step forward in terms of making pricing information available to consumers," said Larry Smith, chairman of AzHHA's Price Transparency Work Group and chief financial officer of Phoenix Children's Hospital. "AZHospitalChoice will evolve to provide greater access to quality information."