Health Care Price Transparency and Communication: Implications for Radiologists and Patients in an Era of Expanding Shared Decision Making.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this article is to review the literature on communicating transparency in health care pricing, both overall and specifically for medical imaging. Focus is also placed on the imperatives and initiatives that will increasingly impact radiologists and their patients. CONCLUSION: Most Americans seek transparency in health care pricing, yet such discussions occur in fewer than half of patient encounters. Although price transparency tools can help decrease health care spending, most are used infrequently and most lack information about quality. Given the high costs associated with many imaging services, radiologists should be aware of such initiatives to optimize patient engagement and informed shared decision making.