Consumers Demand Transparency...

A recent survey (completed in February 2007) conducted for the PNC Financial Services Group by the Boston-based research firm of Chadwick Martin Bailey found that consumers (especially those with high deductible health plans) want more transparency in health care administration.

The survey was based on telephone calls conducted with 150 executives from U.S. hospitals or health systems, 50 executives from insurance organizations and an online survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers.

Six of ten people who have high deductible health plans strongly agree that their families have become more conscious of health care costs, and some 22% said they compared doctors and hospitals to find the best value for their money.

This finding supports the changing environment that is being brought about by consumer directed health care. As consumers are reintroduced to the process of buying their health care, they are quickly becoming more aware of costs and outcomes. As the consumer directed movement continues to expand, it is becoming clear that the marketplace is responding with pricing transparency, better knowledge of outcomes and generally more informed patients.

Hospitals are working diligently to improve their overall ranking in terms of outcomes. Physician groups are focusing on patient communication. Entrepreneurial companies are developing point-of-sale claims pricing systems to enable patients to learn true costs and to pay for services with debit cards.

Employers are very conscious of wellness programs as a part of the solution to bring health care costs down, thus reducing the cost of insurance benefit plans while gaining a healthier and more productive workforce.

Employers are learning if they don’t already know it, that they must share the premium savings with their employees through funding of Health Savings Accounts and Health Reimbursement Accounts. Those who used the high deductible health plans primarily as vehicles to shift costs are coming to understand that this was a short-sighted approach.

Consumer directed health care is maturing and expanding. That frightens some in government and industry. Some in government don’t relish the idea of empowering the individual since people begin to understand that they don’t need big government to take care of them.

Some in industry and labor circles are similarly wary of these programs. Again, control of members can be threatened when the individuals begin to make their own decisions.

Some in the health care industries are not anxious to see patient independence since they are comfortable with the status quo. However, those same health care providers are being forced to change. They will either adapt to this new era, or risk being relegated to the junk heap as another entity that failed to take the necessary action.

There is a growing tide sweeping over the health care landscape and it is called consumerism.