Study: U.S. health consumers demand transparency

Health price and quality reporting may have started out a trendy insider notion, but it looks like those days are firmly over. Pushed by the growth of consumer-driven healthcare plans, consumers have begun to expect--often, to demand--detailed data from providers. Nearly 85 percent of consumers responding to a new survey said that they believed hospitals and doctors should be required to disclose their prices. And more than half of those responding said that they'd be influenced by such pricing information, according to the survey, which was conducted by the PNC Financial Services Group. The same survey found that consumers are struggling with claims payment issues--for example, it found that six in 10 consumers didn't know that there's a limit on how long they have to dispute claims denials.

To learn more about the study:
- read this PNC press release