Understanding Hospital Machine-Readable Files: A Non-Technical Guide

Introduction

If you work in healthcare administration, finance, or compliance, you've likely heard about "machine-readable files" (MRFs) that hospitals must publish. But what exactly are these files, and what valuable information do they contain?

This guide breaks down hospital MRF structures in plain language, showing you exactly what data is available and how to understand it—even if you've never worked with JSON or technical file formats.

What Are Machine-Readable Files?

Think of an MRF as a digital spreadsheet that hospitals must publish online. Instead of being locked in a PDF or Excel file, the data is stored in a format (like JSON) that computers can easily read and process. This makes it possible for:

• Healthcare organizations to compare prices