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Crowdsourcing, Price Formation, and Health IT
By: John R. Graham
1.28.2011
From the perspective of the average patient, going about his life unconcerned about health policy or economics, what is the most frustrating characteristic of U.S. health insurance? Surely, it is the madness of the billing cycle: Never knowing how much a medical service costs until long after you’ve received it, and sometimes only after a flurry of phone calls and paperwork that can take months to clear up. Last year, a non-profit called Costs of Care sponsored a national essay contest, inviting people to submit anecdotes “illustrating the importance of cost awareness in medicine.” One of the winning entries concerned a billing error for inserting an IUD. Before the procedure, the patient learned (via “a few keystrokes”) that the cash price would have been $843.60. Insured, her out of pocket cost was to have been about $200. Instead, she received a bill for $1,100 that took months to sort out.
Scholars who write at certain other health blogs and journals will use this story as further evidence of the need for a massive national investment in Health IT, along with Patient-Centered Medical Homes, Accountable Care Organizations, adherence to “meaningful use” standards, et cetera.
Such scholars fail to identify the real culprit: Over insurance. Read the entire article here.
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