Hospital price transparency
Know what your price file actually says before anyone else reads it.
Independent, one-page reviews of hospital machine-readable files against CMS's 2026 requirements, with specific examples from your file and practical fixes.
Uses only your publicly posted file. No login or data needed.
location-name: Example Community Hospital mrf-url: …/standardcharges_2025.csvPoints to last year's file. The current 2026 file is on the price page but not linked here.10th_percentile 262.30 median_amount 260.00Percentiles out of order: the 10th is above the median.count 0 median_amount 60.00Median filled in with zero claims. CMS says to leave it blank.
What I review
Since April 1, 2026, CMS has enforced new data requirements. I read your file the way an outside reader or automated check would.
- Can it be found?
- The
cms-hpt.txtindex file, its link to the current file, and the annual update date. - Is it in the 2026 format?
- Template version, attestation and attester, Type 2 NPI, and the required columns.
- Are the rates complete?
- Payer-specific rates for every contracted plan, cash prices, and minimum/maximum.
- Do the allowed amounts hold up?
- Median, 10th and 90th percentiles, and claim counts, checked for consistency.
- Does the data make sense?
- Percentiles out of order, cash prices above gross charges, per-diem rates on individual items, and other errors a reader would notice.
What I've found
October 2026 review of every critical access hospital in Alabama and Kentucky, plus independent hospitals with 200 beds or fewer. No hospital is named.
hospital files had at least one specific, fixable problem.
- 12filled in "median allowed amounts" with estimated contract rates on rows reporting zero claims, which CMS's instructions say to leave blank.
- 9had no current file in the 2026 format, or no machine-readable file at all.
- 7showed percentiles in an impossible order, such as a 10th percentile above the median.
Others had index files pointing to outdated versions, malformed payer columns, or NPIs that don't belong. Most are quick fixes once someone spots them.
How it works
I review your public file
No login, data or paperwork needed from you.
You get a one-page summary
Specific examples from your file and what the 2026 rules expect.
We fix what matters
Working with your team or your file vendor.
I recheck the file
After it's reposted, and as CMS rules change each year.
About
I'm Tor Rui, a healthcare analytics and economics specialist in the Charlotte area. For 13 years I've turned hospital cost, pricing and operations data into decisions leaders can defend, most recently as Lead Data Analyst for Sodexo's medical-equipment program serving more than 100 hospitals.
My research has been published in the Journal of Clinical Engineering and won the Biomedical Instrumentation & Technology Best Research Paper Award. I trained as an industrial mathematician (M.Sc.-equivalent, NTNU, Norway).
Opplyst is Norwegian for "illuminated" or "well-informed." That's the goal for every file I review.
Get in touch
Want to know how your hospital's file looks? I'll review it at no cost and send you a one-page summary.