johnmurch/tome-labday-chargemaster

Import script for chargemaster files from hospitals

tome-labday-chargemaster

Import script for chargemaster files from hospitals

TL;DR - https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/hospital-price-list-chargemaster-rules-trump-mandate-2019-n959006

Overview

I wanted to look at chargemaster files from local Pittsburgh hospitals, specifically from the Allegheny Health Network (AHN).

Quick description of each file in repo

1. excel2csv.js - converst excel files (.xlsx) to Comma Seperated Values (.csv).

2. import.js - Takes a (.csv) file and imports into postgres database using knex.js.

3. batch_ahn.sh - runs import.js on each of the CSV files in the process folder

4. Folders - I dumped the current data in /raw/ahn and use excel2csv.js to convert to /process/ahn

5. /import - This is the knex.js setup for basic ETL of csv's to postgres.

Please adjust settings and run knex migrate:latest

/import/knex.js

Note that in db/migrations you can see the basic structure of the table

• id autoincrement
• name hospital name
• metatitle naming for additional data
• metadata way to store additional data
• description details of charge
• price note this is a raw price as some files do not round to hundredths place
• variable note if the price is NaN
• created_at when imported

Take away

1. There is no standard format for chargemaster files from hospitals. Some even offer machine readable which is a (.xlsx) file 🤦‍♂️

2. Pricing is still funny as it's "cash" pricing, but no one pays "cash" pricing and even if you tried, the hospital would easily knock off some % for discount.

3. Pricing transparency - this is a good start, but very disappointing. Really wish healthcare was taken more serious in the USA.