UPDATED: May 04, 2023 6:10 p.m.

WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — Following a six-figure fine, Kell West Regional Hospital officials said they are in compliance with price transparency requirements and received a letter on Thursday, saying so.

According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Kell West was one of only 4 hospitals in the nation to be issued a fine since the transparency rule took effect in 2021.
That transparency has to do with how the hospital lets people know prices on its website and where they can shop for different services

Kell West IT Director, Terry Stagg, said a company they paid to take care of displaying their standard hospital charges, and shoppable services in a consumer-friendly manner, did not follow through with that obligation and said they’ve taken care of it themselves.

He also said they plan to appeal the $117,000 fine, “There is an appeal process that we can do now that we’re in compliance which we received that letter today saying that we were completely compliant and that there was no further review, but we do have to appeal that fine and in order to do that we just have to submit documentation online and then somebody from their website or from their organization will get back to us.”

The appeals process could take up to 60- days. Kell West CEO Dr. Jerry Myers said he expects no problem because compliance is already fully confirmed by CMS as of Thursday.

WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — One Wichita Falls hospital is only one of four hospitals to be issued a fine for transparency in the United States.

Kell West Regional Hospital faces a fine of $117,000 for non-compliance with price transparency requirements.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said in a release to the media that the fine to Kell West is one of the only four issued against hospitals in the nation since the transparency rule took effect in 2021.

In July 2022, CMS completed an initial review of the hospital’s website and found them in violation of the rule, issuing a warning notice that same month.

Then in November 2022, CMS completed another review of the hospital’s website and issued a request for a corrective action plan.

After Kell West submitted its corrective action plan, CMS reviewed the hospital’s website again in March 2023 and found in its final review that the hospital was still noncompliant with requirements for standard hospital charges and displaying shoppable services in a consumer-friendly manner.

Texoma’s Homepage has reached out to Kell West regarding this issue at the time of publication and has not heard from representatives from the hospital.

This is a developing story. Stick with Texoma’s Homepage as we learn more.