Key result
Higher hospital prices are not linked to better clinical quality or meaningful patient experience gains.
Why the study?
It was uncertain whether increases in hospital discharge prices are associated with improvements in clinical quality or patient experience.
Observational (n=3,024)
Yes
Effect estimate: 0.011 percentage points per 2% increase in lagged price (95% CI 0.005-0.018)
p-value: p=<0.001
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Higher prices do not improve clinical quality or meaningfully enhance experience; leaves open whether competition mediates limited patient-reported gains.
Crespin et al. (2022) conducted an observational in Hospital quality and patient experience (n=3,024). Hospital discharge price increases vs. Lower or no price increases was evaluated on Patient rating of 9 or 10 on HCAHPS survey (0.011 percentage points per 2% increase in lagged price, 95% CI 0.005-0.018, p=<0.001). Higher hospital discharge prices were not associated with improvements in clinical quality measures and yielded only negligible improvements in patient experience.
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