Medical Pricing Database and Hospital MRF Methodology

Hospital Price Transparency Data

Our primary data source is the Machine Readable Files (MRFs) that US hospitals are required to publish under the Hospital Price Transparency Rule (45 CFR 180). This federal regulation, effective since January 2021, requires every hospital operating in the United States to make their standard charges publicly available in a machine-readable format.

These files contain gross charges, discounted cash prices, and payer-specific negotiated rates for every service a hospital provides, from a routine blood test to complex surgery.

Reviewed Provider Updates

In addition to MRF data, Loa can review provider-submitted price and profile updates before publication. Reviewed updates serve two purposes:

• Gap filling - not all facilities have complete or up-to-date MRF files; reviewed provider updates can add source-labeled context
• Price verification - comparing submitted prices against published MRF data helps reviewers catch outdated or conflicting listings

Coverage

As of July 27, 2026, Loa's public directory includes 4,702 hospital profiles with current price data across all 50 states, representing 116,655 current hospital price rows. Coverage changes as hospitals publish or update their price transparency files.

Provider directory information for doctors and specialists comes from the CMS National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPI Registry), the official federal database of healthcare providers.

How We Calculate Prices

For each procedure and location, Loa selects one preferred current price per hospital, prioritizing reviewed and cash-price records when available. We then calculate summary statistics from up to 100 eligible source-labeled hospital rows in the geographic region:

• Minimum listed price - the lowest selected source-labeled row in the area
• Maximum price — the highest selected published rate
• Median price — the middle value, less affected by outliers
• Average price — the arithmetic mean of all rates

Procedures are identified by CPT (Current Procedural Terminology) codes, the standard billing codes used across the US healthcare system. Prices are standardized to allow fair comparison across facilities.

Data Freshness

Hospitals are required to update their price transparency files at least annually. Loa continuously monitors and processes new files as hospitals publish them. The data shown on our healthcare pricing pages reflects the most recently available information from each hospital.

Important Limitations

While we strive for accuracy and comprehensiveness, there are important limitations to be aware of:

• Prices are estimates based on published data, not guaranteed quotes
• Your actual cost depends on your insurance plan, deductible status, and clinical specifics
• Not all hospitals have fully compliant price transparency files
• Professional fees (e.g., radiologist interpretation) may be billed separately
• Prices may change between when data was published and when you receive care

API Access for AI Assistants

Loa provides a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that allows AI assistants to access our pricing data programmatically. This enables tools like Claude to search CPT codes, compare source-labeled hospital prices, and retrieve current Loa estimates for users.

Product teams can use Loa's medical cost and health pricing API to retrieve the same source-labeled, non-PHI pricing information shown on our website.