New Hampshire and California are making efforts to help consumers obtain details on healthcare prices.
In New Hampshire, consumers can now compare prices on dental care and prescription drugs in addition to medical procedures through its state government website, nhhealthcost.nh.gov, according to an Associated Press report published by the Chicago Tribune.
Consumers can now use the website to get information on 31 additional medical procedures, including physical therapy and behavioral health, 16 dental procedures and 65 prescription drugs. The website previously included prices for about 24 medical procedures, according to the report.
New Hampshire has also added quality information, such as readmission rates at various facilities after a heart attack or whether patients feel physicians communicate well, according to the report.
In California, the nonprofit Integrated Healthcare Association and the California Office of the Patient Advocate have released a medical group report card that includes information on clinical quality and patient experience, as well as cost.
The report card, an online tool, allows consumers to compare side-by-side cost and quality ratings for more than 150 medical groups caring for about 9 million commercially insured Californians.
The groups said it is the largest statewide multi-payer public report card to provide side-by-side comparisons of both quality and cost measures at the medical group level.
The report card uses a 4-star rating system to compare each medical group's performance on providing recommended clinical care, patient experience and average annual payments for care from both health plans and patients, according to a news release.
The cost data in the report card was collected through IHA's Value Based Pay for Performance program.
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