In a System Mired in Regulatory Requirements, Price Transparency is Key to Cost Reduction
While many of us have heard about the substantial burden of regulatory costs on our hospital systems, many are ignorant of how compliance with these regulatory requirements drives up the overall cost of healthcare in the
Rising inflation rates are no match for soaring healthcare costs. In 2016, American businesses and taxpayers spent over
Healthcare providers and facilities must comply with over 600 separate regulatory requirements as part of efforts to promote both patient and provider safety and well-being.(2) Regulatory burden costs
When a patient ends up using hospital facilities when unnecessary, the extra money consumed to help meet regulatory requirements has no direct impact on that patient's care. Ultimately, healthcare consumers--including employers providing coverage to employees--are stuck absorbing these unnecessary costs. This means higher premiums, as well as surprises on medical bills. Most employers are unaware that their healthcare premiums are based on the medical payments made by their insurance policy plus the insurance company's operating and profit margins. The money paid on behalf of consumers, or employees, gets added together annually and a 15-20% margin gets added on top, roughly, to arrive at their next year's premium. When costs continue to inflate, premiums go up which represents increased revenues and gross profit. Keeping healthcare pricing complex means certain entities will keep making more money as the cost of care continues to rise.
Ultimately--consumers and employers are making the payments for the care--and regulations and legislation just gives coverage for obscure pricing. Support tools creating price transparency can increase consumer awareness of these fees and other expenses associated with medical care. Price transparency applications ultimately allow consumers to pick their care options with the knowledge they need in order to only pay for the care they need from the best facilities and providers that align with those needs.
Meanwhile, lawmakers in
"Hospitals will always be more expensive. People should simply not go there unless that's where they need to go," Galvin explained. "Price transparency tools empower the consumer to determine the optimum place for their care."
Until legislation forces price transparency nationwide--if it ever will--employers and individuals can start to take back control of their healthcare spending by utilizing price transparency tools that expose the actual amounts paid and allow them to compare the actual costs of local healthcare services.
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Sources:
1. The Rising Cost of Health Care by Year and Its Causes. The Balance. https://www.thebalance.com/causes-of-rising-healthcare-costs-4064878
2. Understanding the True Costs of Healthcare Regulatory Compliance. HealthcareSource Blog. http://education.healthcaresource.com/healthcare-regulatory-compliance-cost/
3. Regulatory Overload Report.
4. Hospitals, Systems Spend
5. Price transparency would benefit health consumers. NewsOK. https://newsok.com/article/5593932/price-transparency-would-benefit-health-consumers
Read the full story at https://www.prweb.com/releases/2018/06/prweb15533386.htm
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