Both major Lehigh Valley hospital systems say they support federal price transparency rules and provide online tools to help patients estimate costs. But their public language and emphasis differ slightly in tone and detail.

St. Luke’s

University Health Network

St. Luke’s frames price transparency as a patient empowerment tool, emphasizing consumer choice and decision-making.

• “St. Luke’s University Health Network is empowering patients with the necessary information to make informed health care decisions.”

• “Hospital price transparency helps Americans know the cost of a hospital item or service before receiving it… making it easier for consumers to shop and compare prices across hospitals.”

The system highlights:

• An online price estimator tool for shoppable services

• A machine-readable file of standard charges required under federal rules

• A caution that: “Actual charges may materially vary due to the individuality of each patient’s care regimen.”

Lehigh Valley Health Network / Jefferson Health

LVHN/Jefferson emphasizes regulatory compliance and technical disclosure requirements, while directing patients toward estimator tools for practical use.

Its public pricing disclosures stress that:

• Federal rules require hospitals to publish standard charges in machine-readable files

• These datasets include gross charges, negotiated rates and discounted cash prices

• However, the hospital notes these files are not designed for consumers, stating they are “not intended to be user-friendly”

LVHN/Jefferson also cautions:

• Published prices do not reflect individual insurance coverage, deductibles or copays

• As a result, they do not represent final patient responsibility

Patients are directed to use online cost-estimation tools to generate more personalized out-of-pocket estimates.

Both systems say they comply with federal price transparency requirements and offer tools for estimating costs in advance.

The key difference is emphasis:

• St. Luke’s highlights patient empowerment and comparison shopping.

• LVHN/Jefferson emphasizes regulatory compliance and the complexity of translating posted data into actual patient bills.

In both cases, each system cautions that published figures are estimates – not final costs – due to insurance variation and clinical complexity.