The prices New York City hospitals charge for healthcare services—which can vary greatly for the same procedure—could soon be posted on a government-run watchdog website.

A proposal that is working its way through the New York City Council calls for the creation of an Office of Healthcare Accountability, which would post the costs of procedures at city hospitals along with cost transparency summaries for each facility on a new website (with the goal of reducing healthcare prices). The city-level office would also be tasked with auditing city expenditures on employee-related health costs and making recommendations, among other responsibilities.

City Council member Julie Menin, a Manhattan Democrat and sponsor of the legislation, said the proposal is similar to transparency and accountability models adopted by other states, like California. But it would make New York City among the first cities in the nation to have a healthcare accountability office, she added.

Members of Mayor Eric Adams’s administration have generally signaled support for the bill, but they’ve taken issue with its proposed oversight and audit rights of city worker health costs. Menin said she’s in negotiations with the mayor’s office and expects “the bill to move forward.”

Adams spokesperson Kate Smart said the mayor’s office “look[s] forward to working with all of our partners in the council to ensure every New Yorker has access to quality and affordable healthcare, and increase hospital price transparency.”

Groups like the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA) have also pushed back on the proposal.

David Rich, GNYHA’s EVP of government affairs, communications, and public policy, argued in testimony before City Council members that every city hospital already publishes pricing information. He called the proposal “inappropriate and unnecessary” given federal price transparency rules.

Menin spoke with Healthcare Brew about the proposal, and how it could affect healthcare costs if adopted.

Keep reading here.—SY

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Craig McKasson is chief financial officer and chief administrative officer at Premier, a national healthcare provider that unites more than 4,400 hospitals across the country.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in finance?

I would say that my job is to ensure that the things that we own—the company owns, our assets—are well protected, and managed appropriately, in order to generate return for our customers, employees, partners, and shareholders. I would also say that a really important part of my job, along with our CEO, is to communicate and explain the company and its performance to internal and external audiences.

Given that the role has changed and given that things are evolving, what would you say to someone who might have to be a CFO in five years? Ten years?

The most important thing—even today, but also into the future—is there seems to be a stereotype of being really good with the numbers. But I think actually, the focus on communication skills, both oral and written, are critical for a CFO to be an effective leader, an effective storyteller to provide the right context for the business and its performance. It’s not about just reciting numbers; it’s really about providing context. For a CFO to be successful with how complicated the macro environment is, and how complicated businesses now are, you have to be able to take complex business discussions and issues and distill them down into a simple-to-understand explanation in order to provide better value to your peers and to stakeholders.

Keep reading at CFO Brew.—KT

Today’s top healthcare reads.

Stat: US adults ranked healthcare costs among their top financial concerns, following food costs and retirement savings, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll. (The Hill)

Quote: “Hospitals are a great place to keep the pulse on who is being shot, and when and where,”—Catherine Barber, a senior injury researcher at Harvard University’s school of public health, on a new CDC gun injury study that uses hospital emergency department data (The Associated Press)

Read: Telehealth has made doctors more accessible, but even casual interactions like calls or messages may now come with a “visit” charge. (The Atlantic)

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