Many experts have pointed to increased transparency around prices for medical services as one strategy to solve overutilization and mounting healthcare costs, but cost information alone may not alter physicians' habits, according to a study from the Journal of the American College of Radiology.
Study authors identified the 10 most frequently ordered imaging tests based on data from fiscal year 2007. For the study, prices for five of those tests were actively displayed, while the rest acted as a control group with no price information.
From November 2009 through May 2010, costs were shared for the active displayed group. Researchers then analyzed the numbers of orders executed for both groups of tests, comparing the patterns of when prices were displayed to baseline patterns when prices were undisclosed.
The study found it will take more than published prices to change physicians' behaviors regarding imaging. Researchers found no significant difference between the two groups and no significant difference in the correlation between test costs and utilization change for the group of tests with published prices.
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Study authors identified the 10 most frequently ordered imaging tests based on data from fiscal year 2007. For the study, prices for five of those tests were actively displayed, while the rest acted as a control group with no price information.
From November 2009 through May 2010, costs were shared for the active displayed group. Researchers then analyzed the numbers of orders executed for both groups of tests, comparing the patterns of when prices were displayed to baseline patterns when prices were undisclosed.
The study found it will take more than published prices to change physicians' behaviors regarding imaging. Researchers found no significant difference between the two groups and no significant difference in the correlation between test costs and utilization change for the group of tests with published prices.
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