A report compiled in the months before Colorado’s new price transparency law took effect shows many hospitals weren’t posting the data patients need, but industry representatives argued its method isn’t accurate.

The August report from PatientRightsAdvocate.org looked at 2,000 hospitals nationwide and found 319, or about 16%, fully complied with federal price transparency rules. Those rules require hospitals to post a full spreadsheet of prices and either a list of 300 “shoppable” services or a tool for estimating the cost of services people can plan in advance.

In Colorado, only Middle Park Health Kremmling was considered compliant, out of 32 hospitals the group checked. That put the state second from the bottom. (Four states were tied for worst, with no compliant hospitals: Connecticut, Hawaii, South Dakota and Wyoming.) In the states with the best results, about one in three hospitals complied.

Cynthia Fisher, founder of PatientRightsAdvocate.org, said that while many hospitals are now posting spreadsheets of prices, they’re often too incomplete for patients to use. While some hospitals are happy to give estimates, a price provides solid ground for disputing bills that come back significantly higher than expected, she said.

Cara Welch, spokeswoman for the Colorado Hospital Association, said the association believes the analysis is “flawed,” and that a survey earlier this year found 90% of hospitals in the state reported they were complying with the federal price transparency rules. The others had a plan to come into compliance, she said.

Read more at DenverPost.com.