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Oregon Health & Science University and the state's 61 other hospitals have pledged to give consumers cost estimates of scheduled procedures three days after they ask for it.

(The Oregonian/File photo)

Oregon hospitals took a step toward price transparency on Wednesday, promising to provide cost estimates for scheduled procedures within three days.

The initiative aims to give uninsured patients and those who are out-of-network a better idea of what a procedure will cost.

"It's another step to give patients the tools they need to make decisions," said Andy Van Pelt, executive vice president at Oregon Association of Hospitals & Health Systems.

The measure will not help 95 percent of the consumers in Oregon who have insurance. The best way for them to get cost estimates is to contact their insurance company, Van Pelt said.

But it does aim to help the other 5 percent obtain good faith estimates of hospital costs.

The Oregon Association of Hospitals & Health Systems has added cost estimate pages to its website, OregonHospitalGuide.org, that includes contact information for the billing departments of each of the 62 hospitals in Oregon.

All of the hospitals have agreed to provide the estimates within three days, and some are responding even quicker than that, Van Pelt said.

"What we're trying to do is create a set of standards that we can live up to and the patient can expect," Van Pelt said.

The initiative makes Oregon one of the first states in the country to adopt a hospital-wide commitment to price transparency, said Richard Gundling, senior vice president of the Healthcare Financial Management Association, a membership organization for hospital financial executives. It comes amid a consumer push for greater transparency on health care costs with the prevalence of high-deductible plans and rising premiums and co-pays.

"People are asking more about the price because they're paying more out of pocket," Gundling said.

The good faith estimates could still include surprise charges on the final bill. The cost of any surgery or procedure varies among patients based on their health and needs. And the estimates won't include physician charges which are billed separately from hospital costs.

But in calling hospital billing departments and discussing price, patients are more likely to benefit from financial assistance and charity care.

"That's the goal," Van Pelt said.

Oregon has long lacked health care transparency, according to a national report card issued every summer by the Catalyst for Payment Reform.

"Oregon gets an F every year," Van Pelt said.

So do most other states.

Van Pelt said the association is trying to move the bar up.

The group launched the website in March. It includes hospital performance information from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and a tool that allows consumers to compare institutions.

In July, the Oregon Health Authority will post median prices on the 50 top inpatient procedures and the 100 most common outpatient procedures. That move follows the passage of Senate Bill 900 in the last legislative session.

The association will also post the prices on its website.

-- Lynne Terry