UPMC Health Plan has teamed with an Oregon company to roll out a pricing and quality of care tool for members.
Portland-based Healthsparq will provide the pricing and quality engine for the insurer’s new feature, which will be available to commercial and Medicare members Jan. 1. Ease of use was among the features that set Healthsparq apart from other vendors, said Kim Jacobs, vice president, Product and Consumer Innovation, at UPMC Health Plan.
“Last year, we began to look very seriously at the transparency question,” Jacobs said. “Users can compare three different facilities at once.”
Health plan members will be able to compare procedure costs at network providers based on two years of claims that were paid by UPMC. In addition, costs will include all related procedures and how long the treatment will take, start to finish.
Surgery requiring rehabilitation, for example, will be detailed by length of expected treatment, which could vary among providers, Jacobs said. Information about more than 200 treatments will be part of the tool.
The tool will provide users with hospital quality of care results through the Pennsylvania Health Care Quality Alliance, a nonprofit based in Philadelphia. The insurer is planning a similar tool for individual doctors, Jacobs said.
Date: 9 July, 2014