Co-Founder and COO Robert Hendrick spent a few minutes with the local TV crew to share tips on how to save money on your prescriptions. Easy steps that can add up to huge savings. You’ll be surprised!
Thanks for all of the support, and for trusting us to help you make smarter healthcare decisions and save money in the process.
Image Courtesy of SqueakyMarmot on Flickr
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 about healthcare. If you knew the price before you went into the doctors office or hospital, it would put the healthcare provider out of business.
Excuse me?
No. It would not. In fact, it might make the patient consider whether they needed that service or not. It might make them question if they really need all 8 prescriptions.It might make the provider find ways to offer the procedure more cost effectively as John Stossel so elegantly pointed out about Lasik eye surgery.
When someone hesitates to tell you the price of an item, why do they do it?
Fortunately, rational thought does occasionally prevail. The recent post from KevinMD.com points out (from the physician’s perspective – no less) that price transparency won’t effect health care costs.
It won’t adversely impact the cost of healthcare. It will force providers to be more cost effective and up front about their costs. It will force consumers to be more selective and engaged in the purchasing decision.
But will knowing the price put healthcare providers out of business? Not likely. In fact, knowing the price seems to be working wonders for Wal-Mart and…oh…just about every other business model in the U.S.
After long awaited anticipation, change:healthcare has launched a new user interface! And we are really excited about it! This design is representative of our new approach to saving money on healthcare and helping people make smarter decisions.
Our new interface is intended to make our application simpler and easy to use and understand!! Yep, that’s right… We want to assist you in finding the information you need, identifying ways to save money, and managing your healthcare claims, bills, and EOBs all in one place.
Our new navigation is today’s highlight! Take a look at the screen shots below.
This first view relates to accounts that have automatic claims feeds associated with them. When your employer and/or TPA works with change:healthcare, we are able to show you individualized and relevant ways you can save on your healthcare (based upon where you spend your healthcare dollar). It’s kinda like having someone watching out for you 24/7, notifying you about ways you can save money.
As the red circles highlight, you can now simply navigate between the “Find”, “Ways to Save”, and “Manage” tabs. The center of your dashboard even features four icons that help you identify where to start upon logging into your account.
The next screen shot gives you a view of the new consumer accounts. When you log into your change:healthcare account for the first time since our update, or sign up for a brand new change:healthcare account, you will notice two icons in the center of the dashboard. They provide quick access to search for information on our site and provide an overview of your healthcare expenses.
We look forward to sharing more information about our new interface with you, and showing you how change:healthcare can help you save money and make smarter consumer decisions that suit your individual healthcare needs.
Please let us know if you have any questions, feedback, comments, etc. We love to hear from users!
In a recent survey conducted by Hewitt Associates, about 20% of employers said they are planning to stop offering health benefits over the next three to five years.
Sad… as if we need another player in the health care game to quit! See Workforce Management for more details on the study.
Equally as interesting as those planning on leaving the game are the priorities of the employers who plan to continue to offer benefits. “Promoting employee accountability” was ranked as the number one component of employers 2009 health care strategies. “Offering competitive benefits” and “managing health risk” came in at second and third.
What I have to say is directed at those who plan on dropping benefits and those who plan on keeping benefits and promoting employee accountability:
LET change:healthcare HELP!!! Our site and online tools help employees save money (which saves the employer money) and make smarter healthcare decisions.
The problem is apparent… we are asking employees to be responsible for their health and healthcare when they still do not know what health care really costs, they do not have enough skin in the game ($20 co-pays are not going to increase responsibility) to care, and those who are on CDHPs are lacking the tools to understand how to save money and make better decisions.
The message to employees is simple … we want you to get engaged. There are tools out there (if we are working with your employer) that will show you simple and tangible ways to save money on your healthcare… tools that will show you what your peers paid (the network price) for services and prescriptions you need, allowing you to proactively research costs and quality, allowing you to become an active participant in your healthcare.
The action for employers… call change:healthcare. We want to help you preserve your benefits and engage (keep) your employees. We want to help you save 30% on your healthcare.
Healthcare does not have to be daunting and saving money does not have to be hard. Let us show you how we make both of these things simple!
Herman Trend Alert: Consumer-Driven to Save Money – March 4, 2009
“change:healthcare” is a leading edge informatics company created to help individuals and employers save money on healthcare expenses. If you knew you could get the same procedure or service for hundreds or perhaps thousands of dollars less than what your physician or hospital charges, you could certainly make a more informed decision about where you chose to go.
That’s just what change:healthcare (www.changehealthcare.com) offers—the opportunity to see what other providers are charging for the same product or service. Their enormous database contains cost data on literally thousands of providers and drugstores.
Over the last five years, employee healthcare costs have risen by 40 percent, while employers’ costs have increased by 29 percent. During the same period, over six million employees have migrated (mostly by necessity) to consumer-driven health plans. We forecasted this shift some years ago. (To see the full study, visit http://www.towersperrin.com/tp/showdctmdoc.jsp?country=usa&url=Master_Brand_2/USA/News/Spotlights/2009/Jan/2009_01_15_spotlight_2009_HCCS.htm)
No one would disagree that for many, the costs are simply unbearable. They respond by either not going to the doctor, taking the medication, or having the procedure. “Most people don’t apply the normal rules of consumerism to healthcare,” said Robert Hendrick, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of change:healthcare. “They do not think of medical care as a commodity.”
However, when quality care or the very same prescription medication is available at a much lower cost in the same metro area, then many of us will choose to take action. Typical corner drugstores, including the large chains, charge 30 to 40 percent more than some other providers, such as grocery pharmacies. In this economic climate, that savings is very meaningful.
So what is the benefit for employers? After analyzing 12 to 18 months of past claims data, the company performs an analysis to look at the range of rates in the geographical area. The typical cost savings is substantial—between 25 and 40 percent. . . and the pharmaceuticals involved are not generics, but branded drugs. It is not uncommon for employer savings to exceed USD$250,000.
Making people aware of their options allows them to make more informed decisions. Particularly in these challenging times, consumers will vote with their pocketbooks in the US and overseas.
Check out the report on The Herman Group’s website at http://www.hermangroup.com/alert/archive_3-04-2009.html.
Some how I forgot to post this great article by Smart Money Magazine. The artice contains tips on how to save money in a tough economy… and change:healthcare was one of them!
Check out the PDF.
Out of Tragedy, a Commitment to Change Healthcare is Born
When both of Christopher Parks' parents passed away within a year of each other in 2006, he was left with more than just grief.
