Hospital comparison list suggested for Nevada

Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2007 | 7:02 a.m.

CARSON CITY - A person buying a new car might read Consumer Reports to get a comparison on prices and performances of the various makes and models.

Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, thinks prospective hospital patients should have access to similar information on the cost of medical procedures, the average length of stay, the quality of care and the death rates.

Assembly Bill 146 would require the state to start an Internet listing intended to allow individuals to shop around for the best and lowest-priced care.

"This will help consumers negotiate the health care system," Leslie said.

Hospitals generally support the measure, and they want other health care providers such as doctors, free-standing surgical centers, nursing homes and HMOs to also supply the information.

Some states already operate such programs, Leslie said.

Bill Welch, president and chief executive of the Nevada Hospital Association, said his group favors providing the information to the public so long as it does not raise administrative costs.

He urged that the information also be required from independent surgical centers, which generally can be more selective than hospitals about which patients they treat. If hospitals have to publicly identify their costs and other details about their operations, surgical centers could undercut their prices unless they, too, must provide the same information.

Much of the information already is collected by the state under a contract with UNLV. But Chuck Duarte, head of the state's Medicaid program, said the information is "not user-friendly" in its present form.

Leslie conceded that a number of details about the proposed program need to be worked out, including cost.

A subcommittee is to review the plan later in the legislative session.