Some analyses have found that commercial insurers pay more when care is delivered in hospital outpatient settings than in physicians’ offices for the same service. Facility fees, combined with hospital market power, are a key driver of this price difference. However, limitations in claims data can obscure when and where outpatient facility fees are charged, which services they are attached to, and their contribution to overall health care spending. In response, some states—including Colorado, Maine, Connecticut, and Washington—have collected and analyzed data on outpatient facility fee billing within their borders. This growing interest reflects several converging trends.
Read the full article: State Efforts to Monitor Outpatient Facility Fees //
Source: https://www.healthaffairs.org/content/forefront/state-efforts-monitor-outpatient-facility-fees