Healthcare Consumerism

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Will we ever see a true consumer market for healthcare where users can make fully informed decisions based upon transparent cost and quality information?

Healthcare
Health Education
Healthcare Industry
Bill Tompkins
66 months ago

6 answers

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I agree with your points. When buying a car, cost and quality can be managed more logically versus when it becomes a personal health purchase and you are asked to make a rational decision at the least rational time.

Bill Tompkins
66 months ago
Car purchase has NO TPA. - Dr. David E. 63 months ago
APPLES and ORANGES. - Dr. David E. 63 months ago
Good Idea = ever here the term "shady as a used car salesman"? - Dr. David E. 63 months ago
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I just got back from a meeting of Interprofessional Health Education Collaborative where this topic was discussed. Some of the important questions we need to address to find a solution to the question of transparency are:

  1. Who benefits from the current system without transparency?
  2. How can they be motivated to embrace transparency in cost and quality?
  3. What kind of environmental changes or technological changes will hasten the move towards transparency in cost and quality measures?
  4. Do we have metrics to measure the levels of transparency and quality.
Balaji Krishnan
66 months ago
Transparency is meaningless. - Dr. David E. 63 months ago
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There is a great website and organization called Broken Healthcare (BrokenHealthcare.com) whose main goal is to get transparency into the healthcare marketplace as far as cost and information. They are really on the right track.

Roy Vartabedian, DrPH, MPH
66 months ago
Very helpful. I am now a subscriber - Bill 66 months ago
Very good, Bill. Hope they can make good progress... - Roy 66 months ago
Welcome aboard - Dr. David E. 63 months ago
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As we are still nearly 180 degrees out from transparent cost and similarly with quality information, I think we will see tremendous improvement in the former area as we are in such need of financial outcome data to couple with traditional clinical outcome performance data. However, with the research that continues in so many institutions, I think there is too wide a spectrum of what it 'costs' to create, discover, or develop a new Dx or Rx. I would hate to see us come to the point that payment for a drug, test or use of a medical device only includes the transparency of the production costs.

Tom H
66 months ago
Cost is not charge is not price and is not paymennt - Dr. David E. 63 months ago
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True medical cost to the patient/consumer is also difficult to determine insurance due to:

  1. Specific insurance plan/coverage/or private pay
  2. Deductibles
  3. Qualification for procedure
  4. Proper paperwork filed

Even if you think you have coverage, you could not actually receive it due to many factors.

Roy Vartabedian, DrPH, MPH
66 months ago
THINK: PP-ACA = insurance but not necessarily health care - Dr. David E. 63 months ago
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HEALTHCARE COLLECTIVISM?

Let me blow your mind! How about HC collectivism?

Collectivism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, or social outlook that emphasizes the significance of groups—their identities, goals, rights, outcomes, etc.—and tends to analyze issues in those terms.

Any thoughts?

Dr. David E. M
63 months ago

Have some input?