Health IT, Hospitals

UnitedHealthcare opens up price check app to anyone who wants to crunch the numbers

Minnesota-based UnitedHealthcare has expanded its free mobile app, Health4Me, to all healthcare consumers, not just […]

Minnesota-based UnitedHealthcare has expanded its free mobile app, Health4Me, to all healthcare consumers, not just UnitedHealth customers. The tool includes a doctor search and the ability to review market average prices for more than 500 medical services.

Any consumer can use myHealthcare Cost Estimator, which could allow for a “comprehensive view” of pricing through treatment and any follow-up care. The cost information is based on local averages for treatment.

In what is yet another move aimed at providing pricing transparency on healthcare costs for consumers, UnitedHealth  said the app will assist users in locating nearby providers and convenient care, urgent and emergency care, while allowing for a review of some 520 services across 290 episodes of care, “providing a comprehensive view of what consumers should expect throughout their course of treatment,” according to UnitedHealth, which in turn should help consumers “more easily anticipate and manage healthcare expenses based on local estimates.”

UnitedHealth, part of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), is far from alone in hoping to offer a clearer view of healthcare costs, with a slew of startups and big health systems alike seeking to lift the curtain on previously hard-to-reach pricing information.

But UnitedHealth is certainly among the largest insurers to tackle the issue, and similarly is among the largest to use a mobile platform. More than 900,000 plan participants have already downloaded the app, the company said, noting that it will enable all consumers – not just United plan members – to comparison shop using a guest version of myHealthcare Cost Estimator, a mobile service available through the Health4Me app.

“Giving consumers access to important medical cost information is improving transparency and making it easier for people to navigate the health care system,” Yasmine Winkler, UnitedHealthcare’s chief product, marketing and innovation officer, said in a statement.

The insurer goes on to note there are “significant price variations” nationwide for services and procedures across hospitals and doctors’ offices, “even though there is no corresponding improvement in health outcomes for services performed by higher-priced healthcare providers.”

As an example, the company said the total cost for a routine childbirth, including prenatal and postnatal care, at hospitals in the New York City region range between about $9,700 and over $29,000, with no clear explanation as to why. Similarly, in San Francisco, the cost for lumbar fusion back surgery runs between about $59,000 and more than $77,300.

Members of UnitedHealth can get personalized estimates that reflect their individual health plan, including real-time account balances when applicable. Estimates are based on available fee schedules and actual contracted rates with care providers. When that information is not available, estimates are based on historical claims with the care provider, according to UnitedHealth.

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