Providing patients, physicians, employers and policymakers more information on healthcare prices could reduce U.S. healthcare spending by an estimated $100 billion over the next decade, according to a new analysis from the Gary and Mary West Health Policy Center.
Most healthcare transparency initiatives focus solely on providing patients with information on out-of-pocket costs. “While healthcare transparency is typically viewed through the lens of patient-facing transparency tools to drive comparison shopping, our analysis suggests even greater impact could be achieved by expanding the audience for such information,” said Dr. Joseph Smith, chairman of the West Health Policy Center Board of Directors. “We’ve found that providing price information to three key stakeholders—physicians, employers and policymakers—may have a far greater impact. And we have identified a range of new policy proposals, including three that, if implemented, could save $100 billion over 10 years.”
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