The Employer Price Transparency Studies are comprehensive reports that are part of an ongoing employer-led initiative to measure and report publicly the prices paid for hospital care at the hospital and service-line level. In an effort to create transparent hospital pricing, Employers’ Forum of Indiana and RAND Corporation have worked together since 2017 to compile claims data to compare hospital prices across the country.
View a summary of the Employer Price Transparency Studies and organizations that have analyzed the data and/or cited these studies in their own reports.
PT5 (RAND 5.0) Demographics
The Employer Price Transparency Studies have provided hospital pricing analysis for employers to be better-informed shoppers for health plans and provider networks and to report hospital prices relative to a Medicare benchmark for:
$77.4
Billion dollars in hospital spending
$3.1
Billion dollars in ambulatory surgery center spending
4,000+
Hospitals
49
States + DC*
*Maryland is excluded due to their all-payer rate-setting program
Now Live
Sage Transparency
Sage Transparency is a free, public-facing tool designed to offer a clear, unbiased view of hospital price, cost, and quality data, as well as price data for ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) and physician-administered medications. Along with other data sources, Sage Transparency 2.0 includes data from the latest Employer Price Transparency Study, PT5.
2017 – 2024
All Price Transparency Studies
See results and analysis for each of the Employer Price Transparency Studies, covering prices from 2013 to present. Each study is available, free of charge and in its entirety.
PT5 (RAND 5.0)
Published May 2024
A study of hospital prices from hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers from across the nation plus price variability among physician administered medications, conducted by RAND.
RAND 4.0
Published May 2022
A study of hospital prices from more than 4,000 hospitals and 4,000 ambulatory surgical care centers from across the nation, conducted by RAND.
RAND 3.0
Published September 2020
A nationwide price study of more than 3,000 hospitals using employer claims, conducted by RAND.
RAND 2.0
Published May 2019
A study of more than $13 billion in hospital spending in 25 states, conducted by RAND.
RAND 1.0 (PILOT)
Published September 2017
The first Employer Price Transparency study, focused on providers in Indiana and conducted by RAND.
In the News
Read the latest news and announcements on employer price transparency and Employers’ Forum of Indiana.
Hospitals charged private insurers 254% of Medicare in 2022: Rand
Modern Healthcare
These Employers Took On Healthcare Costs, and the Fight Got Nasty
The Wall Street Journal