The Wall Street Journal and other leading publications are reporting that plans are afoot in Washington to issue a pricing transparency mandate that will affect how Americans shop for, receive, and pay for healthcare services in America. According to the reporting, the White House is developing a strategy aimed at bending the healthcare cost-curve by giving consumers greater access to healthcare pricing before they receive services.

The mandate is expected to require insurers to publicize the negotiated rates they pay for services, and require hospitals and physicians to provide patients with a "total price for care" before consumers receive services. It builds on a mandate that took effect in January, which required hospitals to post their prices online. The goal: bring greater transparency to the healthcare market for consumers, so they can make better choices.

We asked Bill Krause, VP of Experience Solutions, to help us understand Change Healthcare’s perspective on this news, and on the issues of price transparency and consumer engagement overall. We also asked Bill to share his advice to payers and providers who are following this news and challenged by the increasing "retailization" of healthcare.

On today's show, we discuss:

• The connection between price transparency and value-based care (02:37)
• What healthcare transparency means and the issues it poses to consumers (04:24)
• Why price transparency and consumer engagement are inseparable (08:17)
• What solutions are available today to help payers and providers meet these anticipated requirements (11:38)
• Transparency and consumer engagement innovations Change Healthcare is working on (14:07)
• An update on the Change Healthcare-Adobe-Microsoft partnership (16:28)
• What the retailization of healthcare means for payers, providers, and patients (18:43)
• What payers, providers, and employers can do immediately to help move the needle on price transparency and consumer engagement (23:00)

Episode Resources

1. Contact Bill Krause
2. Price Transparency in Healthcare
3. Practical Innovation
4. Change Healthcare 2019 Consumer Insights Report
5. Change Healthcare True View
6. Change Healthcare Patient Access Suite
7. Change Healthcare Clearance Estimator
8. Change Healthcare Clearance Authorization
9. MDsave website
10. Change Healthcare makes strategic investment in MDsave
11. Change Healthcare partners with Adobe and Microsoft
12. Wall Street Journal: White House wants patients to know healthcare prices up front (5/15)
13. Wall Street Journal: Trump administration preparing executive order on health-cost disclosure (5/24)

Show Resources

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