1. MRF exists and is publicly accessible. 2. No login or paywall. 3. Automated crawlers can download it (no bot-blocking). 4. JSON or CSV format — not PDF/HTML. 5. File size within CMS limits and loads reliably.
6. Gross charges on every item. 7. Discounted cash price on every item. 8. Payer-specific negotiated rates for every contracted plan. 9. All 70 shoppable services present with correct codes. 10. Minimum and maximum negotiated rates included.
11. File updated after every payer contract change. 12. Versioning or timestamp visible. 13. Internal owner assigned for file maintenance. 14. Quarterly re-validation scheduled. 15. Previous audit findings all remediated.
Run through the 15 points quarterly. A 'no' on any point is a potential violation. Most hospitals discover 3-6 gaps on first review — which is exactly why CMS finds them non-compliant.
Each failed point is a potential $5,500/day violation. Three gaps, one month = $495,000. The checklist exists to find gaps before CMS does.
A compliance audit runs every check on this list against your actual file — in minutes, not weeks, with a documented report for your compliance file.
Run the checklist against your file automatically — free risk check.
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