At least 16 hospitals in the Inland Empire are not complying with the federal Hospital Price Transparency rule, according to a patients’ rights group, a finding disputed by hospital officials. In California, 21% of the hospitals reviewed by researchers are fully complying with the transparency rule, which went into effect Jan. 1, 2021, according to a November report from the nonprofit PatientRightsAdvocate.org. That figure is almost identical to the national average of 21.1%. “After nearly four years, the overwhelming majority of hospitals reviewed are still not complying with the rule requiring them to publish their discounted cash prices and all negotiated rates,” PRA founder and Chairperson Cynthia Fisher said in a news release issued by the group. “By keeping their prices hidden, hospitals continue to block American consumers from their right to compare prices and protect themselves from overcharges,” Fisher said. According to the organization, 37 out of 177 California hospitals were in full compliance with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ standard. Researchers for the nonprofit reviewed the websites of 2,000 of the more than 6,000 hospitals in the United States, with an emphasis on hospitals that are part of the nation’s largest health systems. Under the rule, which was updated in November 2023, hospitals were required to have files posted in a standardized format posted to their website that explain their pricing. PRA’s searchable database of all available U.S. hospital prices is online at HospitalPricingFiles.org. Sign up for The Localist, our daily email newsletter with handpicked stories relevant to where you live. Subscribe here. In the Inland Empire, two out of 18 hospitals that PRA reviewed were in compliance with the law: Community Hospital of San Bernardino, CommonSpirit Health St. Bernardine Medical Center, CommonSpirit Those out of compliance, according to the report, included: Chino Valley Medical Center, Prime Healthcare Corona Regional Medical Center, Universal Health Services Desert Regional Medical Center, Tenet Healthcare Desert Valley Hospital, Prime Healthcare Emanate Health Inter-Community Hospital, Emanate Health Hi-Desert Medical Center, Tenet Healthcare John F Kennedy Memorial Hospital, Tenet Healthcare Kaiser Permanente Fontana Medical Center, Kaiser Permanente Kaiser Permanente Moreno Valley Medical Center, Kaiser Permanente Kaiser Permanente Ontario Medical Center, Kaiser Permanente Montclair Hospital Medical Center, Prime Healthcare Providence St. Mary Regional Medical Center, Providence Riverside Community Hospital, HCA Healthcare Riverside Medical Center, Kaiser Permanente Southwest Healthcare Inland Valley Hospital, Universal Health Services Temecula Valley Hospital, Universal Health Services Related Articles Health | Law enforcement officers honor Inland Empire hospital workers with Operation Holiday Cheer Health | Cyber criminals claim they hacked 17 million patient records at PIH Health hospitals Health | UC campus and hospital worker strike continues across university system Health | Obstetrics department closure at Hemet hospital postponed Universal Health Services, Prime Healthcare and Kaiser Permanente dispute their hospitals being listed on PRA’s report. Universal Health Services and its subsidiary hospitals and facilities are “committed to full compliance with the requirements of the price transparency laws,” spokesperson Jane Crawford wrote in an email. The company has established “consistent” methodology in regards to price transparency, she said. “As such, we believe that PRA’s evaluation of our hospitals and physician practice … is in error since these hospitals use the same methodology as those marked as compliant,” Crawford added. A PRA representative said the organization was looking into the issue. Prime Healthcare spokesperson Mark Reece noted the American Hospital Association trade group says the PRA “blatantly misconstrues, ignores, and mischaracterizes hospitals’ compliance with federal price transparency regulations.” “In addition,” Reece wrote in an email, “we wanted to clarify that (the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services), the true arbiter of hospital price transparency compliance, has noted that several third party organizations like Patient Rights Advocate continue to misrepresent data or simply get the incorrect information.” Staff writer Jeff Horseman contributed to this story.