“New consumer index analyzes care costs
Nashville-based change:healthcare inc. has started a Healthcare Consumerism Index, a product to help companies and consumers judge the cost-effectiveness of their health-care purchases.
The index analyzes a company’s inpatient and outpatient care and prescriptions to identify the highest and lowest prices paid for comparable products and services within an employee population.”
See the article on the Tennessean website.
Check out the Nashville Business Journal from Friday. Startup surfs transparency wave. Because you cannot read the whole article online… Click here to download the .pdf.
Highlights:
“The company has radically revamped its online Medstimate service, which discloses pricing for services from more than 1.5 million doctors and hospitals and price ranges for more than 10,000 medical services.”
“Customers can use Medstimate to reveal price transparency on everything from major surgery to a month’s supply of medication. For example, a Medstimate search shows price ranges at local hospitals for colon cancer treatment vary greatly, depending on the hospital. At Vanderbilt University Hospital, the range is $49,054 to $53,653. At Saint Thomas Hospital it’s $22,258 to $24,344.”
“Hendrick says he’s not trying to persuade consumers to always go for the least expensive alternative because there can be valid reasons for paying more. But the information derived from a …
If you have ever wondered what would be a reasonable price for a medical service, you are not alone. Millions of Americans, especially those who are uninsured, walk into doctors offices every year with no idea of how much their care will cost. That’s a scary feeling, especially if you have to pay for all of it on your own, or if you are unsure how much of the costs your insurance company will cover.
How many people go to get their car repaired without knowing how much it will cost? Or without checking around for high quality, reasonably priced auto shops? I feel it’s safe to assume not very many. Why should our health care be any different? I would argue its more important than your auto repair.
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal by Dr. Benjamin Brewer, Even Doctors Guess At Health Charges, asks …
Check out this great story published in the Williamson A.M (Tennessean) about Christoper.
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008804290319
You can also download a PDF of the article.
