Two interesting articles in Health Affairs on the topic of healthcare price transparency. The first looked at the practice of price shopping for care and the barriers faced in doing so. Findings from the survey highlighted the common barriers to shopping, including difficulty obtaining price information and a desire not to disrupt existing provider relationships. The second study examined the experience of a large insured population that was offered a price transparency tool, to establish if offering the tool was associated with lower shoppable services spending. Findings from that study indicated that simply offering a price transparency tool is not sufficient to meaningfully decrease health care prices or spending.
Read more:
- Americans Support Price Shopping For Health Care, But Few Actually Seek Out Price Information. Health Affairs. August 2017
- Offering A Price Transparency Tool Did Not Reduce Overall Spending Among California Public Employees And Retirees. Health Affairs. August 2017.