Model Context Protocol

Healthcare pricing tools for AI

Connect Claude and other AI assistants to source-labeled hospital pricing, provider directories, procedure code lookups, and reviewed correction workflows through MCP.

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Loa Care's MCP server (loacare) is a remote Model Context Protocol server that gives AI assistants like Anthropic's Claude access to U.S. healthcare pricing data sourced from hospital Machine Readable Files (MRFs), public provider identity records, and Loa-reviewed provider corrections. It provides 12 tools for searching medical procedure codes, finding healthcare providers, resolving Loa entity profiles and prices with provenance, explaining source labels, and submitting reviewed entity corrections. All returned data is public healthcare pricing or directory data—no Protected Health Information (PHI) is involved.

12 tools

Search codes, resolve entities, explain price sources, and submit reviewed corrections.

Source-labeled data

Prices identify Published MRF data, Loa Verified Provider Price overlays, and caveats. No PHI.

OAuth 2.1

OAuth is required for tool calls. Linked providers can submit reviewed corrections.

Getting started

Server endpoint

https://www.loacare.com/api/mcp

Connect from Claude Desktop

Add the following to your Claude Desktop configuration file:

{ "mcpServers": { "loacare": { "url": "https://www.loacare.com/api/mcp" } } }

Authentication

Tool calls require OAuth 2.1. Read-only lookup tools are available after authentication; provider update submissions require linked provider access.

Resource metadata:https://www.loacare.com/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource

Authorization server:https://eknkfyyjqxuvgdzocccu.supabase.co/auth/v1

Scopes:openid email profile

Token header:Authorization: Bearer <token>

Rate limits

Tier	Limit	Tools available
Authenticated	Monthly limit	Read-only lookup tools
Authenticated plus suggestions	Monthly suggestion limit	`suggest_procedures`
Linked provider	Higher monthly limit	All read-only tools plus `submit_entity_update_request` for linked entities

Tools

Most tools are read-only and return JSON with provenance. The only mutating tool is submit_entity_update_request, which creates a reviewed correction request for a linked provider entity.

search_cpt_codes

OAuth required

Search for medical procedure codes (CPT/HCPCS) by name, description, or code number.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
query	string	Yes	Procedure name, medical term, or CPT code number (e.g. "knee MRI", "99213")
specialty	string	No	Filter by medical specialty (e.g. "cardiology")
category	string	No	"evaluation_management", "laboratory", "radiology", "surgery", or "preventive"
limit	number	No	Max results (default 10, max 25)

Example

{ "query": "knee MRI", "specialty": "orthopedics" }

suggest_procedures

OAuth required

Get advisory procedure suggestions from a natural language description of symptoms or needs.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
query	string	Yes	Natural language description (e.g. "I have a rash on my arm")

Example

{ "query": "need imaging for my lower back pain" }

search_providers

OAuth required

Search for healthcare providers by name, specialty, or location. Legacy provider lookup may use public NPI data; Loa entity tools use the reviewed runtime layer.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
specialty	string	No	Medical specialty (e.g. "Cardiology")
location	object	No	{ city, state, zip_code } - any combination
name	string	No	Provider name to search for
limit	number	No	Max results (default 20, max 50)

Example

{ "specialty": "Dermatology", "location": { "state": "CA", "zip_code": "90210" } }

get_pricing_estimate

OAuth required

Get estimated procedure costs from published hospital price transparency rows and source-labeled Loa data.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
procedure_codes	string[]	Yes	CPT codes to price (e.g. ["99213", "85025"]), max 10
zip_code	string	No	ZIP code for regional pricing (defaults to national average)

Example

{ "procedure_codes": ["99213", "85025"], "zip_code": "10001" }

get_market_pricing

OAuth required

Get market average pricing including cash pay and insurance rates from hospital price transparency files.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
cpt_codes	string[]	Yes	CPT codes to look up (max 10)
state	string	No	State for regional pricing (e.g. "CA"). Falls back to national average.
zip_code	string	No	ZIP code for location context

Example

{ "cpt_codes": ["99213", "93000"], "state": "NY" }

search_hospitals

OAuth required

Search for hospitals by location or name. Returns Loa hospital IDs, addresses, and contact details.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
state	string	No	State code (e.g. "CA", "NY")
city	string	No	City name
zip_code	string	No	ZIP code
name	string	No	Hospital name to search for
limit	number	No	Max results (default 20, max 50)

Example

{ "state": "NY", "city": "Brooklyn" }

get_hospital_pricing

OAuth required

Get source-labeled hospital pricing, including Published MRF rates and Loa Verified Provider Price overlays when available.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
hospital_ids	string[]	Yes	Hospital IDs from search_hospitals results (max 10)
cpt_codes	string[]	Yes	CPT procedure codes to look up pricing for (max 10)

Example

{ "hospital_ids": ["hosp_abc123"], "cpt_codes": ["99213"] }

search_entities

OAuth required

Search Loa runtime hospital and provider entity pages by name, state, or entity type.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
query	string	No	Hospital or provider name
entity_type	string	No	"hospital" or "provider"
state	string	No	Two-letter state code
limit	number	No	Max results (default 20, max 50)

Example

{ "query": "Alaska Regional", "entity_type": "hospital" }

get_entity_profile

OAuth required

Get one Loa hospital or provider profile by exact slug or entity_pages.id, including field-level provenance.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
slug_or_id	string	Yes	Exact entity slug or entity_pages.id from search_entities
entity_type	string	No	Optional "hospital" or "provider" disambiguation

Example

{ "slug_or_id": "alaska-regional-hospital-anchorage-ak" }

get_entity_prices

OAuth required

Return source-labeled prices for one Loa hospital or provider entity, including Published MRF Price and Loa Verified Provider Price labels when available.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
slug	string	Yes	Exact Loa entity slug
cpt_codes	string[]	No	Optional CPT filter, max 25
limit	number	No	Max prices (default 50, max 100)

Example

{ "slug": "alaska-regional-hospital-anchorage-ak", "cpt_codes": ["11600"] }

explain_price_sources

OAuth required

Explain source labels, confidence, caveats, and comparable MRF prices behind prices for one Loa entity.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
slug	string	Yes	Exact Loa entity slug
cpt_codes	string[]	No	Optional CPT filter, max 25
limit	number	No	Max prices to inspect (default 50, max 100)

Example

{ "slug": "alaska-regional-hospital-anchorage-ak", "cpt_codes": ["11600"] }

submit_entity_update_request

Linked provider required

Submit a provider or hospital profile or price correction for Loa review. This is the only mutating provider/entity MCP tool.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
entity_page_id	string	No	Loa entity_pages.id for the provider or hospital
entity_slug	string	No	Exact Loa entity slug if the id is unavailable
submitter_email	string	Yes	Work email for the submitter
request_type	string	Yes	price_update, profile_correction, new_listing, remove_listing, or other
idempotency_key	string	Yes	Stable retry key, 8 to 200 characters
price_items	object[]	No	Optional reviewed price rows

Example

{ "entity_slug": "alaska-regional-hospital-anchorage-ak", "submitter_email": "billing@example.com", "request_type": "profile_correction", "idempotency_key": "case-12345" }

Data and privacy

All data returned by MCP tools is publicly available healthcare pricing and provider information. Price responses label Published MRF data and Loa Verified Provider Price overlays, and may include a comparable MRF price for reviewed provider submissions. The update-request tool stores only the correction details you submit for Loa review. No Protected Health Information (PHI) is transmitted through the MCP integration.

Loa Care's MCP tools only process the specific query parameters you submit and do not access, collect, or store any conversation context, chat history, or extraneous data from the AI platform.

We collect basic usage analytics (tool name, request duration, success/failure) for rate limiting and service improvement. These analytics are not associated with conversation content.

For full details, see Section 5 of our Privacy Policy. Security vulnerabilities can be reported to security@loacare.com.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Loa Care MCP server?

Loa Care's MCP server is a remote Model Context Protocol integration that lets AI assistants like Claude search medical procedure codes, find healthcare providers, resolve Loa entity profiles, compare source-labeled prices, and submit reviewed corrections.

Where does the pricing data come from?

Pricing data is sourced from hospital Machine Readable Files (MRFs) that U.S. hospitals publish under the federal Hospital Price Transparency Rule, plus Loa-reviewed provider submissions when available. Provider profiles come from public identity records and approved profile corrections. Price tools return provenance and source labels instead of blending submitted and source-file data silently.

Do I need an account to use the MCP tools?

MCP tool calls require an account and OAuth. Most read-only lookup tools work for any authenticated account. The suggest_procedures tool has its own monthly limit, and submit_entity_update_request requires linked provider access.

Does the MCP server access my conversation history?

No. Loa Care's MCP tools only receive the specific query parameters for each tool call (such as a CPT code or ZIP code). The server does not access, collect, or store any conversation context, chat history, or other data from the AI platform.

Is any personal health information (PHI) involved?

No. All data returned by the MCP tools is publicly available healthcare pricing, hospital, and provider directory information. No Protected Health Information is transmitted through the integration.

Which AI platforms are supported?

The server uses the open Model Context Protocol (MCP) standard and works with any compatible client, including Claude Desktop, Claude.ai, and other MCP-enabled AI applications. The server endpoint is https://www.loacare.com/api/mcp.

Troubleshooting

Connection refused or timeout

Verify the endpoint URL is exactly https://www.loacare.com/api/mcp
Ensure your client supports Streamable HTTP transport (not legacy SSE-only)
Check that outbound HTTPS (port 443) is not blocked by a firewall or proxy

401 Unauthorized

Your OAuth token may have expired — re-authenticate to obtain a fresh token
Ensure the token is sent in the Authorization: Bearer <token> header
If using Claude Desktop, remove and re-add the server to trigger a new OAuth flow

429 Too Many Requests

You've exceeded your rate limit for the current period
Authenticated accounts are metered by monthly usage and tool-specific limits
Wait for the limit to reset or upgrade your plan for increased capacity

Tools not appearing in Claude

In Claude Desktop, restart the app after updating your configuration file
Confirm the mcpServers JSON is valid (no trailing commas, correct braces)
On Claude.ai, check that the MCP integration is enabled in your settings

Empty or unexpected results

Verify the CPT code or search query is valid — use search_cpt_codes to find correct codes first
For pricing tools, not all entities have data for every procedure. Try a different CPT code, broaden the search area, or submit an update request
Provider search requires at least one filter (specialty, location, or name)

Still having issues?

Reach out to support@loacare.com with the error message and the tool you were calling. For security concerns, contact security@loacare.com.

Ready to get started?

Create a free account for higher rate limits and access to all tools, including advisory procedure suggestions.

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