Transparency tools that allow prices and quality of goods and services at competing suppliers to be compared save consumers billions of dollars but it’s a different story in the federal government, according to a congressional watchdog.

“The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services operate five transparency tools — Nursing Home Compare, Dialysis Facility Compare, Home Health Compare, Hospital Compare and Physician Compare — that are limited in their provision of relevant and understandable cost and quality information for consumers,” said the Government Accountability Office in a report made public Tuesday.