KNOXVILLE - Dolly Parton Children's Hospital is among more than 500 hospitals across the country that have been warned by the federal government for failing to comply with hospital price transparency requirements, including 15 other hospitals in Tennessee.

The findings underscore a growing affordability crisis in healthcare where major hospital systems continue to use vague, incomplete, and difficult-to-access pricing information that prevents patients, families, and employers from understanding the true cost of care before the bill arrives.

Some of the local hospitals who have failed to comply with the federal price transparency guidelines include:

• Ascension Saint Thomas Midtown Hospital (Nashville)
• Ascension Saint Thomas Three Rivers (Waverly)
• Bradley Medical Center - Westside Campus (Cleveland)
• Cookeville Regional Medical Center (Cookeville)
• Dolly Parton's Children's Hospital (Knoxville)
• Haywood Park Community Hospital (Brownsville)
• Lakeside Behavioral Health System (Memphis)
• Riverview Regional Medical Center (Carthage)
• Rolling Hills Hospital (Franklin)
• Saint Thomas Hospital for Specialty Surgery (Nashville)
• Siskin Hospital for Physical Rehabilitation (Chattanooga)
• Sumner Regional Medical Center (Gallatin)
• Sweetwater Hospital Association (Sweetwater)
• Trousdale Medical Center (Hartsville)
• West Tennessee Healthcare
• Milan Hospital (Milan) Williamson Medical Center (Franklin)

“Patients should not have to guess what a hospital visit is going to cost,” said Adam Buckalew, spokesperson for Hospital Watch. “If hospitals are serious about affordability, they should start by following the basic transparency rules already on the books. Instead, too many major hospital systems are hiding prices, protecting inflated rates, and leaving families to deal with surprise bills they cannot afford.”

Dolly Parton Children's Hospital Executive Assistant, Sandra Monroe, did not respond to the Knoxville Daily Sun's request for information on what the hospital plans to do to become compliant.

Corporate hospital systems routinely charge patients and private insurers roughly three times what Medicare pays for the same services, making hospital prices one of the biggest drivers of rising healthcare costs in the United States. Without clear and enforceable price transparency, hospitals can continue hiding inflated prices behind opaque billing practices, facility fees, and confusing estimates.

One Tennessee patient, Phillip Faragalli, tried to determine how much elbow surgery would cost after getting hit with a $3,600 hospital bill for an MRI. “They can tell you what’s wrong pretty quick, but they can’t tell you how much it’s going to cost. It doesn’t make sense,” Faragalli said. He was shocked to receive a bill of around $20,500 from the hospital for the surgery.

The lack of transparency is especially concerning in markets where a handful of powerful hospital systems dominate care. As hospital consolidation has increased, many patients have fewer choices, less leverage, and little ability to compare prices before receiving care.

“The hospital market in Tennessee is dominated by a handful of powerful systems,” Buckalew said. “When hospitals buy up competitors and face little real competition, patients lose. Prices go up, premiums rise, and families are left with medical bills they cannot afford.”

Buckalew said the latest report should serve as a wake-up call for policymakers, regulators, employers, and patients. Enforcing existing transparency rules is an essential first step, but broader oversight is needed to address the consolidation and pricing practices that allow hospitals to charge excessive rates with limited accountability.

“We need real enforcement of hospital price transparency and stronger scrutiny of hospital consolidation,” Buckalew said. “Sunlight is the first step toward accountability. Patients and employers deserve to know what they are being charged, why prices are so high, and whether hospitals are giving them a fair deal.”


Source: Hospital Watch - a watchdog group dedicated to shining a light on corporate hospitals as the top culprit in driving up U.S. healthcare costs – exposing corporate hospitals’ monopolistic practices in price gouging patients with excessive markups and hidden fees with no transparency while forcing patients and employers to pay more for their care. Hospital Watch is a project of Better Solutions for Healthcare.