Category Archives: Transparency on Prices, Quality

The camouflage on the cost and quality of heath care in America is blessedly being stripped away by entrepreneurial initiatives. Payers can finally get a glimpse at what they are buying and for how much. Several of the initiatives are … Read the rest

The latest flap over ObamaCare, whether state or local government will run the exchanges, has once again created a major distraction from real reform of the health care delivery system. All manner of politics and some sketchy financial analysis are … Read the rest

As America agonizes about how to adapt to the unending complexities of Obamacare, a startup company from Oshkosh, Wisconsin has cracked through with elegant simplicity on another piece of real reform, transparency for ordering drugs. BidRx has done for drug … Read the rest

Suspicions confirmed. Cost accounting is a foreign concept in most big health care corporations. You have to suspect that is so, because prices vary wildly. A knee replacement can vary in a regional market from $19,377 to $47,504. It’s pricing … Read the rest

Could someone explain to me why health costs are not transparent in this country when public payers are picking up nearly half the tab? I just read a nice little booklet called “Why Health Care Costs So Much” and it … Read the rest

What took so long? Finally, the gnomes in charge of the Medicare claims information announced that they will allow access to its huge database of claims, meaning that insurers, employers and consumer groups will be able to obtain and then … Read the rest

For years, my question to hospital system executives has been: “Do you guys do cost accounting?” It is usually met by blank looks, shoulder shrugs and indefinite responses. The question was an obvious one since the pattern of chaotic pricing … Read the rest