Although the federal government is going full throttle into promoting transparency in healthcare, a new study released today by the Center for Studying Health System Change questions its current usefulness.
Health plans are developing tools to help consumers compare price and quality information from hospitals and physicians, but the tools' pervasiveness and usefulness are limited, HSC researchers said.
"None of the health plans we interviewed believed that price and quality information is being used extensively by their enrollees today, in part, because few have incentives in their benefit structures to encourage cost comparisons," said Ann Tynan, HSC health researcher and co-author of the study.
According to the research, large employers are most interested in healthcare price and quality transparency, with health plans generally providing some price information on inpatient and outpatient procedures and services. However, information on individual providers is often lacking and limited for enrollees in health plans. In addition, few plans provide price information on physician services, the study said.
Health plans generally rely on third-party sources to package publicly available information instead of using information from their own claims, the study found.
According to Paul Ginsburg, president of HSC and co-author of the study, health plans are devoting a lot of attention to price and quality transparency tools, yet "we're a long way from a critical mass of consumers trusting and using the information to choose physicians and hospitals."
The study found that many large employers view price and quality transparency as a key to a broader consumerism strategy, while others are skeptical about the benefits and are proceeding cautiously to avoid potential unintended consequences, the study found.
Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt has said, "Every American should have access to a full range of information about the quality and cost of their healthcare options."
Since 2006, HHS has been promoting "value-driven healthcare" with commitment from federal government, individual private employers and health plans. The committed organizations pledge to advance the use of healthcare IT to collect data on healthcare quality and pricing for the public and to provide incentives to providers.
Do you think America is ready for healthcare transparency? Send your thoughts to Senior Editor Diana Manos at diana.manos@medtechpublishing.com.