Patient Engagement

Could incentives to use price transparency tools spur wider adoption?

Vitals SmartShopper tool uses cash incentives to spur consumers to be shrewder healthcare shoppers.

Source: Virals SmartShopper

Source: Vitals SmartShopper

The interest in creating price transparency in healthcare as a way to get consumers to make shrewder medical choices has found widespread support from Castlight Health to employer wellness programs. But with the SmartShopper program, Vitals takes the view that cash incentives could spur wider use of price transparency tools and help consumers better understand their healthcare costs in the process.

Vitals added the incentives-based price transparency program with the acquisition of Compass Healthcare Advisers in 2014. Two years later, the service has seen increased adoption from payers and self-insured employers, according to Rob Graybill, the former CEO of Compass Healthcare Advisers who is now a vice president with Vitals.

Users select a procedure and based on their plan and address are given a series of options for in-network physicians and can also view ratings for those physicians. In a use case Graybill highlighted, a New Hampshire employer using the Vitals SmartShopper program with public sector employees saved more than $3.3 million in healthcare costs between January 2015 and August 2016. During the same period, the employer gave back $368,000 to employees.

Employers notify staff monthly to remind them that routine screenings and scans are eligible for incentives if staff opt for lower-cost facilities. They can also co-sponsor on-site wellness fairs and biometric screenings, Graybill said.

Vitals scans claims data to flag up savings opportunities. Employees who had knee MRIs were notified about physical therapy rewards. The company also targeted members who had ongoing, routine blood work to inform them they could earn cash by switching to a lower cost lab.

The amount of the payments participants receive is calculated based on the cost of the procedure and an analysis of claims data. Although the incentives can run as high as $500 for individuals, more than half the incentive amounts are $50 or less, according to a news statement.

 

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