The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) started the process of searching for a company to help create a price comparison tool for consumers. The notice comes as CMS is pushing hospitals to be more transparent about what they charge patients. The agency has updated its previous price transparency guideline, drawn from the Affordable Care Act, by requiring hospitals to publish a list of standard charges in an online, machine-readable format starting Jan. 1. They must update that charge information, drawn from their retail chargemaster list, at least annually. (Virgil Dickson, Modern Healthcare)
