Healthcare transparency

In a recent interview with Mark Hochstetler, M.D., vice president of clinical affairs with the VHA, we discussed the issues of price and quality transparency and the effect that these trends are having on the healthcare industry. There have been quite a few price and quality transparency initiatives lately, driven by the current administration's support of CDHPs. Dr. Hochstetler noted that while this has caused quite a stir in the healthcare industry, it has had very little impact on …

What makes healthcare so expensive? There's no doubt that this is a loaded question and there's guaranteed to be a lot of finger pointing (and maybe even some name-calling), no matter who answers it. But as the Denver Business Journal points out, maybe we should be blaming ourselves for our high monthly premiums. When it comes to our health, all of us want the best treatment money can buy…until it comes time to pay the bill. Americans complain about the skyrocketing costs of …

Throwing fuel into the CDHP fire, WellPoint announced that it will make all of its CDHP products available in all markets to both employers and individuals beginning on January 1, 2007. Execs say that consumer interest in CDHPs led the insurer to make the plans more accessible and estimates that it could save patients up to $400 dollars a year over traditional plans. "More informed consumers can make better health care decisions and improve their health, which can help to …

It seems that every week we hear about a state or insurer that's taking steps toward increasing transparency. This week's offering comes from Aetna, which announced that it will report the cost of 30 common procedures in the Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia area. The information will be available to consumers on Aetna's Web site and quality ratings will also be available for providers of 12 different specialties. Aetna's Web site is a step in the right direction but critics say …

Recently, two Chicago Tribune articles reported that despite a lot of noise about increasing transparency in the healthcare system, the level of transparency necessary for consumers to comparison shop simply isn't yet a reality. Moreover, even if the information were available, it seems as though patients …

Apparently, Americans don't like having to do homework any more than they did when they were children. A study of 1,000 adults, which was commissioned by Destiny Health and conducted by Opinion Research Corporation, has found that despite our concerns about healthcare costs, most people are reluctant to research cost and quality data even if it's readily available. Health officials have made a lot of noise about increasing transparency in the healthcare system, though two recent …

California Medical Association (CMA), the state's largest physician group, has released a report ranking the state's insurers by the percentage of their budget spent on healthcare in 2005. The ranking is part of the group's campaign to get insurance companies to spend more money on medical costs--including doctor's reimbursements--and less on profits and overhead. Blue Cross of California (California's largest insurer) ranked the lowest. The insurer spent 78.9 percent of their revenue on …

A new Ohio law mandates that hospitals post data on performance of 100 common procedures and report the average cost of 60 common outpatient procedures. Data is already available on 100 inpatient procedures. The information will be available on a Web site by May 2007. Yesterday we reported on the complexities of healthcare pricing and how transparency is lagging behind the adoption of CDHPs. Ohio's expanded reporting is a step in the …

Two articles from the Chicago Tribune examine a very real problem with CDHPs--that the transparency necessary for consumers to comparison shop simply isn't a reality. An estimated 6 million Americans use CDHPs, and that number is likely to increase in the coming years. However, as Tribune staff reporters discovered, hospitals make comparison shopping almost impossible. Healthcare is, by nature, a fragmented industry. One procedure can involve various services from hospitals, …

Charging patients a higher copayment for more expensive prescription drugs is an established practice. Now, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts is taking things a step further.  If their plans are approved by the state insurance authorities, BCBS will charge patients more if they go to prestigious, expensive hospitals or to hospitals and doctors with bad records. These hospitals will be ranked on "tier two," while the rest will be on the less expensive "tier one." The …