North Carolina General Statutes 131E-214.12. Purpose; Department to publish price information
(a) It is the intent of this Article to improve transparency in health care costs by providing information to the public on the costs of the most frequently reported diagnostic related groups (DRGs) for hospital inpatient care and the most common surgical procedures and imaging procedures provided in hospital outpatient settings and ambulatory surgical facilities.
(b) The Department of Health and Human Services shall make available to the public on its internet Web site the most current price information it receives from hospitals and ambulatory surgical facilities pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 131E-214.13 The Department shall provide this information in a manner that is easily understood by the public and meets the following minimum requirements:
(1) Information for each hospital shall be listed separately and hospitals shall be listed in groups by category as determined by the North Carolina Medical Care Commission in rules adopted pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 131E-214.13
Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes 131E-214.12
- Department: means the Department of Health and Human Services. See North Carolina General Statutes 131E-1
- following: when used by way of reference to any section of a statute, shall be construed to mean the section next preceding or next following that in which such reference is made; unless when some other section is expressly designated in such reference. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
- Person: means an individual, trust, estate, partnership, or corporation including associations, joint-stock companies, and insurance companies. See North Carolina General Statutes 131E-1
- property: shall include all property, both real and personal. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
- state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories, so called; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
(2) Information for each hospital outpatient department and each ambulatory surgical facility shall be listed separately.
(c) Any data disclosed to the Department by a hospital or ambulatory surgical facility pursuant to the Health Care Cost Reduction and Transparency Act of 2013 shall be and will remain the sole property of the facility that submitted the data. Any data or product derived from the data disclosed pursuant to this act, including a consolidation or analysis of the data, shall be and will remain the sole property of the State. The Department shall not allow proprietary information it receives pursuant to this act to be used by any person or entity for commercial purposes. (2013-382, s. 10.1.)