Hospitals hiding price of new technologies from patients

Announcements of new procedures or devices available at hospitals and health systems are meant to attract patients and attention to the facilities. What usually gets left out of that conversation, Axios reports, is how much those new technologies cost.

One example is Sharp Coronado Hospital near San Diego. In July, it proclaimed itself to be the “first hospital in the U.S. to perform a general surgery procedure using the new da Vinci X Robotic Surgical System," made Intuitive Surgical. Even though the announcement was covered by local reporters, the hospital didn’t offer the list or out-of-pocket price of this new technology. Hospital spokesperson Tom Hanscom said the list price would only be provided to a patient if they make a formal request for the procedure.

"Our intent with the press release was to simply announce we have this new technology at our hospital to treat our patients and nothing beyond that," Hanscom said.

Those same announcements may also attract the attention of physicians, who like patients will be kept in the dark about how much the new procedure or device will cost.

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