Modern Healthcare has analyzed data for hospitals in 12 different cities and found that for a common cardiology procedure, the hospitals with the lowest costs sometimes had the best quality outcomes. While limited in scope, the analysis suggests there is no consistent relationship between hospitals spending more to perform a procedure and their achieving better patient outcomes. A hospital's internal costs for delivering a service matter because those costs typically are reflected in what the hospital charges private insurers and patients.
The disconnect Modern Healthcare found between cost and quality for one procedure in 12 markets suggests that the transparency movement, if it gains critical mass across the country, could put pressure on hospitals to become more cost-efficient and improve their outcomes. That pressure could be especially great on higher-cost facilities that can't demonstrate better quality. Otherwise, payers and patients may take their business elsewhere.
News from the National Alliance, member coalitions, partners, and industry to help drive quality and value of healthcare services.
Showing posts with label Modern Healthcare. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Modern Healthcare. Show all posts
Monday, October 28, 2013
Thursday, October 11, 2012
New deadline for Purchasing Power Survey
The deadline for Modern Healthcare's fifth annual Healthcare Purchasing Power Survey has been extended to Friday, October 19.
The survey, co-sponsored by the Leapfrog Group and the National Business Coalition on Health, recognizes the growing power employers have to dictate how healthcare services are delivered.
Intended for any nongovernment U.S. companies that had a minimum of $100 million in revenue for 2011, the survey examines how much major employers spend on providing health care benefits and services to their employees; essentially, who pays for health care and how much it costs.
Completed survey forms are now due Oct. 19 with selected results to appear in the Nov. 12 issue of Modern Healthcare.
For more information on how to participate, visit modernhealthcare.com/surveys.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Hospital Cuts Costs and Passes Savings on to Self-Pay Patients
Modern Healthcare reports that hospitals' glacier-like movement toward joining the rest of the business world in actually telling customers how much they'll have to pay for their services may have reached a milestone this past April in a small town in southeast Texas.
Cleveland (Texas) Regional Medical Center, which is about 40 miles north of Houston, took the unusual step of announcing in a news release that it had reduced costs for a large number of its services by 15% and was passing those savings along to its self-pay patients. The hospital announced it was cutting prices for the following divisions: cardiopulmonary, dietary, emergency and trauma, intensive care, labor and delivery, medical and surgical, obstetrics, operating room/ post anesthesia and respiratory. Fees associated with medical supplies also were cut.
Despite those changes, 55-bed Cleveland Regional, like most hospitals, is still far from what would be called a price-transparent operation. Cleveland Regional doesn't have a price list it can give to patients or offer that information on its website. But the mere act of acknowledging their prices to the public and sharply reducing them as well are unusual steps.
The idea to cut prices came from the hospital's business staff and was an internally focused collaborative effort. Nonetheless, the change makes Cleveland Regional a part of two broader trends: the move to provide more disclosure about patients' out-of-pocket costs, and efforts to give self-pay, uninsured patients a better deal than they have received historically.
The heightened transparency from providers is coming in part because of the growth of high-deductible health plans in which patients pay most, if not all, of the upfront costs of care until they meet a substantial deductible. That growth is producing increased price sensitivity for certain types of care. For example, imaging is an area where price sensitivity is becoming more prominent, but for acute inpatient care it's still rare.
Hospitals are working hard to cut expenses in anticipation of slower growth in reimbursement, tied in part to the elements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, but also because of the industry shift toward providing value-based care.
Cleveland (Texas) Regional Medical Center, which is about 40 miles north of Houston, took the unusual step of announcing in a news release that it had reduced costs for a large number of its services by 15% and was passing those savings along to its self-pay patients. The hospital announced it was cutting prices for the following divisions: cardiopulmonary, dietary, emergency and trauma, intensive care, labor and delivery, medical and surgical, obstetrics, operating room/ post anesthesia and respiratory. Fees associated with medical supplies also were cut.
Despite those changes, 55-bed Cleveland Regional, like most hospitals, is still far from what would be called a price-transparent operation. Cleveland Regional doesn't have a price list it can give to patients or offer that information on its website. But the mere act of acknowledging their prices to the public and sharply reducing them as well are unusual steps.
The idea to cut prices came from the hospital's business staff and was an internally focused collaborative effort. Nonetheless, the change makes Cleveland Regional a part of two broader trends: the move to provide more disclosure about patients' out-of-pocket costs, and efforts to give self-pay, uninsured patients a better deal than they have received historically.
The heightened transparency from providers is coming in part because of the growth of high-deductible health plans in which patients pay most, if not all, of the upfront costs of care until they meet a substantial deductible. That growth is producing increased price sensitivity for certain types of care. For example, imaging is an area where price sensitivity is becoming more prominent, but for acute inpatient care it's still rare.
Hospitals are working hard to cut expenses in anticipation of slower growth in reimbursement, tied in part to the elements of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, but also because of the industry shift toward providing value-based care.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Time is running out to participate in Healthcare Purchasing Power survey
The deadline is fast approaching for Modern Healthcare's annual Healthcare Purchasing Power survey. This survey examines how much major employers spend on providing health care benefits and services to their employees; essentially, who pays for health care and how much it costs.
Co-sponsored by NBCH and the Leapfrog Group, this survey recognizes the growing power employers have to dictate how health care services are delivered. Participating companies are ranked by their health care purchasing power — an employer's total annual expenditures to provide health care benefits to the employer's covered lives.
Here's a link to last year's survey results: Healthcare Purchasing Power: 2011
If you are an employer or know of an employer that may be interested in participating, request a link to the survey.
The deadline for participation is September 14. The 2012 Healthcare Purchasing Power Survey results are slated to appear in the November 12 issue of Modern Healthcare.
Co-sponsored by NBCH and the Leapfrog Group, this survey recognizes the growing power employers have to dictate how health care services are delivered. Participating companies are ranked by their health care purchasing power — an employer's total annual expenditures to provide health care benefits to the employer's covered lives.
Here's a link to last year's survey results: Healthcare Purchasing Power: 2011
If you are an employer or know of an employer that may be interested in participating, request a link to the survey.
The deadline for participation is September 14. The 2012 Healthcare Purchasing Power Survey results are slated to appear in the November 12 issue of Modern Healthcare.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
NBCH teams with Modern Healthcare for Annual Purchasing Power Survey
Modern Healthcare has opened its annual Healthcare Purchasing Power survey for participation. This survey examines how much major employers spend on providing health care benefits and services to their employees; essentially, who pays for health care and how much it costs.
Co-sponsored by NBCH and the Leapfrog Group, this survey recognizes the growing power employers have to dictate how health care services are delivered. Participating companies are ranked by their health care purchasing power — an employer's total annual expenditures to provide health care benefits to the employer's covered lives.
Here's a link to last year's survey results: Healthcare Purchasing Power: 2011
If you are an employer or know of an employer that may be interested in participating, request a link to the survey.
The deadline for participation is September 14. The 2012 Healthcare Purchasing Power Survey results are slated to appear in the November 12 issue of Modern Healthcare.
Co-sponsored by NBCH and the Leapfrog Group, this survey recognizes the growing power employers have to dictate how health care services are delivered. Participating companies are ranked by their health care purchasing power — an employer's total annual expenditures to provide health care benefits to the employer's covered lives.
Here's a link to last year's survey results: Healthcare Purchasing Power: 2011
If you are an employer or know of an employer that may be interested in participating, request a link to the survey.
The deadline for participation is September 14. The 2012 Healthcare Purchasing Power Survey results are slated to appear in the November 12 issue of Modern Healthcare.
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