How to Find Your Hospital's MRF File (And What to Do If You Can't)

Every US hospital must publish a machine-readable pricing file. Finding it is usually simple — but "I can't find it" is itself a compliance problem, because CMS's automated systems need to find it too.

Step 1: Check the Website Footer

Most hospitals link their MRF from the homepage footer under names like "Price Transparency," "Patient Pricing," "Standard Charges," or "Price Lists." Look for it before anything else.

Step 2: Try the Standard URL Patterns

If there's no footer link, try these common paths:

Step 3: Search Your Own Site

Use a site search: site:yoursite.com price transparency or site:yoursite.com machine readable. Also check the sitemap for files ending in .json or .csv.

Step 4: Check with Your IT / Web Team

The file is often published by the IT or marketing team that runs the website. If your finance office doesn't know where it is, ask IT — it should be documented in your compliance files.

Step 5: What "Can't Find It" Means

If you cannot locate your MRF, CMS probably can't either — and its automated checkers run continuously. An unfindable file is treated the same as an unpublished file. This is the highest-risk situation, and it needs a fix, not a search.