Last week, a task force led by the Healthcare Financial Management Association released a report on improving healthcare price transparency.
As more people enroll in high-deductible health plans and shoulder a greater portion of the cost of care, healthcare providers face an increasing demand to be open about their prices. In response, a number of hospitals, health systems and health insurers have already developed price transparency tools. Here are four healthcare organizations that have launched transparency tools, according to HFMA.
1. Aetna. This health insurer launched its Member Payment Estimator in 2010. The online tool lets members approximate their actual cost based on the providers they choose, their medical conditions and their plan designs.
2. Geisinger Health System (Danville, Pa.). Geisinger's MyEstimate lets patients use a self-serve portal to get out-of-pocket estimates for nearly 300 services.
3. Priority Health. Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Spectrum Health's health plan, Priority Health, has developed a price transparency tool to engage customers and promote provider accountability.
4. UnitedHealthcare. The myHealthcare Cost Estimator, launched by UnitedHealthcare in 2012, gives consumers access to an online and mobile calculator that lets them compare the prices of in-network hospitals and physicians.
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