Alegent Health, a nine-hospital system with hospitals in and around Omaha, is one of the first systems in the nation to provide consumers with accurate estimates of the cost of their care, factoring in insurers' payments and discounts.
The not-for-profit system is providing the estimates on its Web site as part of its ongoing efforts to increase price transparency for those in its service area.
Through the "My Cost" service on its Web site, Alegent can provide visitors to its Web site with secure access to a calculator that can provide out-of-pocket cost information that takes into account a visitor's insurance coverage.
Alegent said it is able to provide out-of-pocket cost estimates for nearly 500 common treatments and procedures.
The estimates take into account the negotiated discounts that Alegent Health has in place with payers. The service went live late last month, and Alegent was able to immediately provide detailed cost information for an estimated 50 percent of its customers, including those covered by Medicare Parts A and B, United Healthcare, Coventry Healthcare of Nebraska, Aetna or CIGNA.
In the next few months, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska customers will be able to use the tool, and Alegent will continue to work with Mutual of Omaha and other health insurers so their members can use the estimator.
In the next six to 12 months, Alegent Health also hopes to add professional fees, such as anesthesiology, radiology and physician fees, to its cost estimates. Currently, the estimator provides only facility fee estimates.
In addition, self-pay information will be available for other site visitors, as well as guidance to estimate the amount of financial assistance for which patients might qualify.
"With 'My Cost' estimator and our quality reporting, we are providing a transparent system that helps consumers understand their true healthcare costs and expected outcomes for various treatments and procedures," said Wayne A. Sensor, Alegent's CEO.
In the first week since the service went live, some 8,000 to 10,000 individuals have gone through the estimating process at the portal, said Troy Harrison, vice president and director of technology development at Medseek, a Solvang, Calif.-based vendor that developed the application for Alegent.
The health system is able to produce real-time estimates for costs because it has working relationships with insurers, enabling it to get data feeds that permit accurate results for estimating contractual discounts and patient co-payments, Harrison said.