A Minnesota health plan has become another in the growing list of providers and insurers to put health services pricing information online. Bloomington, MN-based HealthPartners, a non-profit HMO serving more than one million medical and dental plan members, has launched a web tool offering prices for 83 procedures at its network primary care and radiology facilities in its home region.
Prices are provided for five high-volume categories of services--including office visits, immunizations, common lab services, X-rays and CT/MRI services--for providers in its open-access network. The new program provides an upgrade from its previous data, which only offered a pricing range.
By December, the health plan expects to expand the pricing information it offers to let consumers check prices for 100 services and procedures at up to three locations at one time.
To learn more about HealthPartners' transparency efforts:
- read this press release [1]
Related Articles:
Tenn. hospitals put prices online [2]
HCA posts hospital prices online [3]
WI legislator plans health pricing disclosure law [4]
Maryland unveils hospital guide
[5]
Links:
[1] http://www.healthpartners.com/portal/3159.html
[2] http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/fiercecms/create/Tenn. hospitals put prices online
[3] http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/hca-posts-hospital-prices-online/2007-03-07
[4] http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/wi-legislator-plans-health-pricing-disclosure-law/2007-10-26
[5] http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/maryland-unveils-hospital-guide/2006-07-03