House Ratifies Measure Mandating Hospitals Report Cost Data

The Ohio House recently sent a bill to the senate a measure designed to make it easier for patients to shop for a hospital in an increasingly "consumer-driven" healthcare system. HB197 would require hospitals to submit data price information about the top 60 outpatient and inpatient procedures to the Ohio Dept. of Health (ODH), and then ODH will make the information available on its Web site. Hospitals would be required to provide the department with reports showing their performance on quality indicators such as average length of stay, mortality and complication rates, readmission rates while a panel will study the issue of infection rates. The Ohio Hospital Association said the organization doesn't support the current version of the bill citing the measure's requirement to submit data would cost hospitals more than $9 million a year and would yield confusing information for consumers. The measure passed the House with a 94 to 1 vote.