It can be difficult to practice consumer-savvy behaviors when your life or the life of a loved one hangs in the balance.
Daryl Tol, CEO of Orlando-based FloridaHospital, and David Strong, CEO of Orlando (Fla.) Health, spoke about the difficulty of achieving price transparency in the healthcare industry in a radio interview with WFME May 11.
As patients bear an increasing portion of the financial burden for medical services, more patients are demanding price transparency tools that enable them to compare costs. But implementing and utilizing cost comparison tools in healthcare is difficult because the industry is more sensitive, human and unpredictable than other consumer-driven fields, said Mr. Strong. Many healthcare services are emergent, meaning that "if your child is injured or you're injured, you don't immediately search for price. You want to receive care," Mr. Strong said.
Achieving price transparency in healthcare is further complicated by the silo-ed and discrete nature of the hospital business, said Mr. Tol. "Within a hospital's four walls, there are many businesses operating," from contracted, independent physicians to the hospital itself, he said. Financial transparency is about increasing the collaboration and communication between hospitals' various moving parts, eventually arriving a unified business and operational model. To do this, some hospitals have to upset years of ingrained workplace culture. While this may not be easy to do, it must happen quickly, Mr. Tol said.
Transparency and understanding is critical to creating a unified pricing model across different entities of care. This makes transparency a top strategic priority for all hospitals planning the move to value-based care.