Healthcare providers, insurance companies, and drug makers should make information about prices available to the public, according to a new survey of leaders in health care and health policy. The latest Commonwealth Fund/Modern Healthcare Health Care Opinion Leaders Survey finds widespread support for such measures: In addition to the reporting of provider quality and prices, 86 percent of respondents support public reporting of drug prices charged to major purchasers, and 82 percent support the public reporting of medical loss ratios--the share of premium dollars that private insurance companies spend on actual medical care, rather than marketing, administration, and other expense or profit.
Improved transparency can help reduce the ever-increasing spiral of healthcare costs, the respondents said, but only to a small degree. Two-thirds (69%) of opinion leaders see improved transparency as a means of reducing healthcare spending. There is great variability of opinion on how great an impact transparency would have on cost. Seventeen percent believe it will reduce spending by more than 5 percent, while 31 percent think it will reduce spending by 1 percent to 5 percent.
On the other hand, four out of five (81%) opinion leaders think that more widespread public reporting of information could stimulate providers to improve their performance through quality improvement activities. “Transparency is important because it motivates physicians and hospitals to assess and improve their care,” said Commonwealth Fund President Karen Davis. “For those providers that aren’t doing well, public reporting serves as a wake-up call to identify problems and improve performance.” Access the survey report.
