From the category archives:

Transparency

Shifting Healthcare Costs and Online Pricing Tools

Know your healthcare costs and save money

Great article from Jane Sorenson-Kahn pointing out that employers see “cost-sharing among employees as a top #1 cost-control strategy.” and that employers are “less satisfied [with] online comparison tools.” That’s a bad mix. No information on price AND you’re going to have to pay for it. Sounds like going to the auto-repair mechanic who [...]

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From Coast to Coast, Everyone is Talking About change:healthcare!

Folks from coast-to-coast are talking about change:healthcare! The New York Daily News is talking about healthcare cost savings in the east, while the team was in California presenting as part of a panel at the Health 2.0 conference. And here at home in Nashville, the Venture Capitalist arena is buzzing about the company too. We [...]

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Use Twitter to Act on Healthcare Reform, Not Just Talk About It

Just got finished trying out the White House twitter site that allows tweeple to pop off a pre-formatted mantra in favor of healthcare reform. It’s a neat bit of technology – cool in many ways. But it’s an agenda pusher.
It’s all talk and NO action.
Now compare that with the recently-launched Twitter app from change:healthcare. It [...]

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Prescription Coupons – A Simple Way to Save Money!

Photo Courtesy of Bartificial on Flickr
Who knew prescription coupons could save me $75?!  I didnt…
I was speaking to my doctor this morning about a new prescription she suggested I try.  It sounded like a great option for me. As she proceeded to enter the information into their e-prescribing system, she told me that this drug [...]

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If You Knew the Price…

Image Courtesy of SqueakyMarmot on Flickr
“If you knew what the price of items were at Wal-Mart before you went into the store to buy them, it would put Wal-Mart out of business.”
That has to be one of the single most insane statements ever written.Yet that’s exactly what many doctors and hospitals would have you believe [...]

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Reviewing your medical bills for errors!

Shannon Buggs at the Houston Chronicle has written a great piece “Close Look at Hospital Bills Saves Money” on taking a closer look at your hospital bills for errors.  Though there have been numerous pieces on this topic, this one in particular (find it here) has  some great tips included at the end. I have [...]

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How does change:healthcare’s enterprise/employee product differ from the consumer product?

When you log into your free change:healthcare account, its simply not the same as logging into an account sponsored by your TPA (third party administrator) or employer.  But why? The simple answer is “data”.
In recent weeks we have done a lot of work on the site, considering ways we can improve the experience for our [...]

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Helping employees save money… and it’s super simple!

That’s right!  Our new cost savings alerts for our TPA and employer clients (i.e. our employee users) are finally here… and boy are they hot stuff.  Now an employee can log into their change:healthcare account to see specific ways they can save money on their prescription expenses.  And all they really have to do is [...]

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Illinois Law is Step 1 for Uninsured

As of April 1 in Illinois, they have taken step 1 in protecting the uninsured. A new law caps uninsured patient bills at cost +35%.
Hooray! A good first step!
Now don’t rest on your laurels, Illinois.
Cost plus is great if you can understand the “costs” portion, but most patients do not. Step 2 is to root [...]

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The Fiscal Health of U.S. Hospitals

Thursday’s Healthpopuli post caught my eye – Hospitals’ fiscal health is eroding. More than 50% of hospitals had a negative margin in Q4 2008. Sounds like the hospitals need wellness and disease management programs to address their ailing health just like patients are getting.
The main reason cited in Healthpopuli for the poor fiscal health is that [...]

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