Modern Healthcare and ECRI Institute Launch New Technology Price Index

New public service provides hospital leaders with high-level pricing data on expensive and frequently purchased capital medical equipment and supplies 

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa., March 28, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Escalating healthcare costs and diminishing returns require today's hospital leaders to scrutinize every dollar they spend on medical technology, supplies, and devices. To assist decision makers in monitoring pricing changes for key technologies, Modern Healthcare and ECRI Institute, an independent nonprofit that researches the best approaches to improving patient care, have developed and launched the healthcare industry's first technology price index.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110112/DC29081LOGO)

"Price transparency is an essential component to controlling costs in any industry, including healthcare," said David Burda, editor of Modern Healthcare. "Our Technology Price Index adds a much needed dose of price transparency to the medical device and supply field."

The new online Modern Healthcare / ECRI Institute Technology Price Index provides a quick snapshot of average prices that hospitals and other provider organizations are paying for 30 key capital and supply items based on aggregated data from ECRI Institute member facilities. Updated prices are provided each month for expensive and frequently purchased categories of technologies, such as linear accelerators, CT scanners, cardiac ultrasound systems, heart valves, pacemakers, implants, and more.

The Technology Price Index includes the following three indices and a 12-month trending graph:

• The Top 10 Supply Items by Total Spend
• The Top 10 Most Expensive Capital Items
• The Top 10 Most Popular Capital Items

Designed to help healthcare administrators quickly see upswings and downturns in the marketplace, each index includes the latest monthly average price for each item and the change in that price from the previous month and over the past 12 months. The interactive trending graph enables web visitors to visualize the fluctuation in pricing over a 12-month time frame from a high-level vantage point to help them see whether prices are generally going up or down or staying even.

"We hope this new index will contribute to a more robust ability to address the unusually large asymmetry in knowledge about prices between sellers and buyers of technology," says Jeffrey C. Lerner, PhD, ECRI Institute president and chief executive officer. "The index is provided by us, together with Modern Healthcare, at no cost as a public service," adds Lerner.

The pricing in the Modern Healthcare/ECRI Institute Technology Price Index is based on data submitted to ECRI Institute by hospitals and health systems through membership in PriceGuide™ and SELECTplus™ supply and capital procurement advisory services. The monthly average prices are calculated using a three-month rolling average. The indices list the common name for each technology, plus the category name as defined by ECRI Institute's Universal Medical Device Nomenclature System™, a standard international nomenclature and computer coding system for medical devices. 

"By rolling up our proprietary model-specific pricing data into high-level categories, we're providing a view of technology pricing that few executives have had access to before," says ECRI Institute's Jennifer L. Myers, vice president of SELECT Advisory Services. "It's a good starting point for understanding what hospitals around the country are spending on average."

The Modern Healthcare/ECRI Institute Technology Price Index is free to all registered users of ModernHealthcare.com. To access the TPI, go to modernhealthcare.com/TPI.

Additional analysis about the trends shown in the Modern Healthcare/ECRI Institute Technology Price Index is provided by ECRI Institute researchers at https://www.ecri.org/Pages/PriceIndex.aspx.

For more information about the price index or about membership in ECRI Institute's SELECTplus or PriceGuide programs, contact ECRI Institute by telephone at (610) 825-6000, ext. 5152; by e-mail at [email protected]; by fax at (610) 834-1275, or by mail at 5200 Butler Pike, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462-1298, USA.

About ECRI Institute
ECRI Institute, a nonprofit organization, dedicates itself to bringing the discipline of applied scientific research to healthcare to discover which medical procedures, devices, drugs, and processes are best to enable improved patient care.  As pioneers in this science for more than 40 years, ECRI Institute marries experience and independence with the objectivity of evidence-based research. Strict conflict-of-interest guidelines ensure objectivity. ECRI Institute is designated an Evidence-based Practice Center by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. ECRI Institute PSO is listed as a federally-certified Patient Safety Organization by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources. Find ECRI Institute on Facebook (www.facebook.com/ECRIInstitute) and on Twitter (www.twitter.com/ECRI_Institute). For more information, visit https://www.ecri.org. 

About Modern Healthcare
Modern Healthcare is the most trusted business news and information brand in the healthcare industry, with an editorial mission based upon the highest journalistic standards. We ask the tough questions and deliver news, insight and analysis on today's most important topics. By combining the power of a print publication, 24-7 digital news products, robust research and event platforms, Modern Healthcare delivers the most comprehensive suite of news products, empowering healthcare leaders and influencers to make timely and informed business decisions. To learn more or subscribe, go to www.modernhealthcare.com/subscriptions.

SOURCE ECRI Institute