The American College of Radiology (ACR) is monitoring possible accelerated regulatory enforcement of hospital and health plan price transparency in the U.S. this year that could include imaging services.
The ACR communication cited a February 25 Executive Order that revives efforts to require U.S. hospitals and health plans to disclose their prices and rates to patients. The order mandates price transparency regulations by late May, the college highlighted.
"The first Trump administration issued an executive order in 2019, that directed pricing transparency and then finalized a rule to implement it," the ACR noted. The final rule from 2019 included more than a dozen imaging services for which hospitals were to disclose pricing.
Imaging services identified in 2019 included MRIs of the leg joints, lower back x-rays, and CT imaging of the pelvis with contrast. At the time, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services cited 18 studies that determined displaying charges for radiology services changed ordering physicians’ behavior and reduced costs, according to the February 27 ACR bulletin.
