OnSiteClinics.Org

Recent Forbes Article on Price Transparency

So, the pricing your employees get for healthcare services may not be quite as clear as the windows shown here, but this is one of the biggest issues consumers of healthcare face -the lack of price transparency.  Employers have tried their best to make it easier for employees to understand pricing, but it is still a work in progress.  This article posted on Forbes.com uses many examples and references to studies, articles, etc. addressing pricing transparency and other healthcare cost issues.  The focus of the article, however, was on a model for pricing transparency at The Surgery Center of Oklahoma.  They provide a link on their home page that allows prospective patients to check out pricing before they commit to the use of the facility and the price includes the surgeon and anesthesiologist’s fee, as well as the facility fee.   So, patients with high deductible plans, or employers who might want to contract for specific procedures with them, have immediate access to the price.

The article was written by Dave Chase, and he gave a personal example from his own family of how a change to a HDHP forced him to be more focused on cost and the obstacles patients face in getting that information ahead of time.  Surprisingly, in addition to posting their pricing information on their site, the Surgery Center of Oklahoma also posts their infection rates.

This is an excellent article with tons of links to additional information.   Almost makes you wish you lived in Oklahoma.