Patient Transparency

For patient transparency, all Mass General Brigham practices are required to provide patients with informational material regarding the costs of care.

Depending on the nature of the practice, the materials cover the following details:

• A preventive health exam may turn into a sick visit if a new medical issue has arisen or a chronic problem has changed. This may result in additional co-payments, deductible payments, and/or co-insurance payments.

• A visit to a hospital outpatient location (HOP) will typically incur both a charge for the examination and a facility fee from the hospital.
  • The examination is typically covered by the co-payment, while the facility fee may change the patient’s out-of-pocket responsibility.

• Some MGB facilities that provide urgent care are not classified by insurance companies as urgent care centers. Visits to these will instead be billed as visits to a physician office (PO) or hospital outpatient location (HOP).
  • Visits to HOP urgent care locations, like visits to other HOPs, will incur a facility fee.

Some of these documents also provide more information about billing issues related to referrals, prior authorizations, procedures performed during the visit, lab tests/imaging, and Medicare.

• Display patient transparency notices prominently at the check-in/check-out desk or next to the desk on the wall. Do not display them on the wall behind the desk, as they may not be clearly visible to patients.
  • Practices are responsible for re-ordering these materials and ensuring that they are continually available for distribution.

• Consider displaying the notices in multiple areas throughout the practice.

• Consider using electronic versions if your practice has electronic display devices.

See the links below to view the notices and brochures:

Brochure and Wall Sign Holders

Plastic brochure and wall sign holders for displaying patient transparency materials are available through the eBuy+ application via Staples. Bring up the following two recommended items in eBuy+ by typing in either the Staples item number or the manufacturer item number:

• Staples Literature Holder, 4.25″, Clear Plastic (Staples item #474445 / MFR item #25329)
• Staples Sign Holder, 8.5″ × 11″, Clear Plastic (Staples item #665596 / MFR item #16656CC)

Additionally, departments can buy a holder that contains both a slot for an 8.5″ × 11″ sign and a side pocket to hold brochures: click here to view. This is not directly available; email staplesapprovalescalation@partners.org to request approval to order it.

Suggested Scripting When Distributing Flyers/Brochures

“To help you understand how you may be billed for your visit today, the MGH would like to provide you with a guide on the differences between billing for physician office visits and those that take place at hospital outpatient locations. If you have specific questions, please visit the Mass General Brigham Billing Solutions website or contact them by phone as indicated in the guide.”

“This brochure outlines some billing procedures for this practice that might affect your out-of-pocket financial responsibility.”

“Please read this brochure on some important billing procedures and how they might affect you.”

Note: Practice staff are not expected to answer questions regarding the information in the brochures. If patients have questions about the information provided, staff can point them to the contact information for Patient Billing Solutions at Mass General Brigham, which is listed on the back of the brochures.