Why are so many hospitals slacking when it comes to healthcare price transparency? What's the solution?
Hospital pricing transparency is an ongoing topic of discussion in the healthcare industry, in part, due to the major lack of clarity in the majority of hospital settings. How do hospitals provide upfront pricing estimation to patients to clear up the mess? Let's review how reports are demonstrating the need for increased transparency, where states are measuring up, and what can be done to meet the need.
"It's impossible to know upfront what you're paying for. Transparency in the industry can help with cost containment."
Recent Survey Reiterates the Need for More Hospital Price Transparency
A recent survey …show more content…
More than half of those surveyed (56 percent) do ask about total cost for treatment, most often after care has been provided.
Exposing the Lack of Hospital Price Transparency
Providers are not the only ones noticing the lack of hospital price transparency. Public Citizen is a consumer advocacy group that recently issued a report blasting the blatant lack of healthcare price transparency in the United States. The report claims its available only in microscopic doses, when it is even available at all!
Citing all-claims databases as the cure-all solution to solve price transparency in healthcare crisis, Public Citizen reports that these systems are either out-of-date or not available to the public. The report goes on to explain that while 19 states are currently in the process of creating these valuable databases, it also concludes that “many of these states’ efforts include no plans to make information from the databases readily available for consumers.”
Furthermore, Public Citizen reports that the only six states with a tool available to consumers to compare prices on basic medical services …show more content…
Created by a physician affiliated with Yale School of Medicine and the Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital, the game requires the contestants to guess the cost of hospital services.
Adam Berkwitt, M.D. is the creator of “Dr. Plinko,” explains that, “Players will learn the difference between the price of over-the counter medications and what the hospital charges for them, which is eye-opening.” Contestants also discovering the ongoing costs of having a severe or moderate illness and the negative effects of building up too much medical debt.
Why Healthcare Cost Estimation is so Complicated
What might be even more frustrating for healthcare providers and employers than the constant increase in healthcare costs is the seemingly impossible feat of keeping track of them! As stated by Kristina Fisher, associate director of Think New Mexico think