Ascension Sacred Heart, along with other Ascension health ministries, provides more information regarding pricing transparency at: https://healthcare.ascension.org/price-transparency

The Agency for Health Care Administration places an emphasis on health care transparency for Florida's consumers. The agency has create a website with detailed information on healthcare pricing and quality at locations and facilities around the state. This website is a step forward in allowing Floridians to make more informed health care decisions.

At Florida Health Price Finder (https://pricing.floridahealthfinder.gov), you'll find data on health care costs for national, state, and county prices.

Pricing Transparency Requirements

The State of Florida requires most healthcare facilities to provide information about pricing and billing on their websites. Much of this information can be found on the FloridaHealthPricing website of the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA). The site, which can be found at https://pricing.floridahealthfinder.gov., shows average payments made to health plans for more than 200 service bundles. The bundles include payments to physicians, hospitals and ancillary services.

The service bundle information is a non-personalized estimate of costs that may be incurred by the patient for anticipated services. Actual costs will be based on services actually provided.

Patients have a right to request a personalized estimate from the hospital. While in the hospital, patients may contact their healthcare providers to obtain a personalized estimate of their costs, their billing practices and whether they participate in the patient’s health plan. Hospitals should provide an estimate within 7 business days from receipt of the request of the patient, prospective patient, or legal guardian, for non-emergency medical services.

The hospital also shall provide an itemized statement or bill within seven days after the patient’s discharge or release, or seven days after the request.

Patients may receive a separate bill from other healthcare providers such as anesthesiologists, radiologists, or pathologists who have a separate contract to provide certain services within the hospital.  Those other providers may or may not participate in the same health plans as the hospital. Patients should contact their non-hospital providers to determine if they participate in the patient’s health plan.

Quality Measures

AHCA also provides information on quality measures on its web site at FloridaHealthFinder.gov. This website includes information on re-admissions data, mortality rates, complication rates, infection rates, and patient satisfaction.

Consumers also may wish to look at the website of the Florida Hospital Association and its additional information at MissionToCare.org.