The post below is a guest blog from Chris Tutino, Communications Specialist, and Theresa Lough, PHR, SPHR and Human Resources Manager. Chris works for CAI’s employee benefits partner, Hill, Chesson & Woody, and Theresa is on staff at Smith Debnam Narron Drake Saintsing & Myers, LLP.
Consumerism refers to the “emphasis on or preoccupation with the acquisition of consumer goods.” With health services, it means getting the right care, from the right provider at the right price. With so many more of your hard-earned dollars in play (with HRAs, FSAs and deductibles), it only makes sense that you’d want to fully understand what you’re purchasing in order to be a wise consumer.
But, the basic laws of supply and demand do not exist in the healthcare industry’s current economic environment. Think about it – with everything else you purchase you can research the quality, see online ratings or view customer testimonials before you buy. Not with healthcare. Not even a surgeon who had a hernia repair knows what he’s going to pay.
Why is that? For one thing, there’s a lack of transparency in pricing and little to no information concerning quality. But, the market is responding. There are many consumer decision-making resources available to you through insurance carriers, governmental websites and other third party websites that are rising to meet the demand. Many insurers offer online cost treatment estimators and on-call nurse lines. Similarly, The Department of Health & Human Services offers information on hospitals and compares their pricing for certain medical procedures. At Healthcare.gov you will find provider care quality measures and comparisons.
Why is this still so difficult? Pricing information is not transparent because healthcare providers negotiate prices with insurance carriers, and that information is held confidential. This leaves the person who pays the bill in the dark.
However, you can be a better buyer of your healthcare. Start researching when you have time to make a decision by knowing what your medical treatment, service or prescriptions are going to cost. Ask your physician what they charge for the procedure and what your options are for treatment. Ask if there are alternatives to your prescriptions. Ask if the results of a certain test they want to perform will change their ultimate course of action. Compare the quality of healthcare between different hospitals before selecting one.
Check out these resources as well. Maybe we’ll find a fix sometime soon.
Certainly, these are not perfect solutions. What would you like to see happen in the healthcare industry as it relates to pricing?
