Consumer information about healthcare costs, quality, and treatment alternatives could help stem health costs, but some are overselling the potential of consumer empowerment to reshape the healthcare system, testified Paul Ginsburg, PhD, president of the Center for Studying Health System Change, at Congress’ Joint Economic Committee hearing on “The Next Generation of Health Information Tools for Consumers.” Policy discussion “about price and quality transparency downplays the complexity of decisions about medical care and the dependence of consumers on physicians for guidance about what services are appropriate,” said Ginsburg. Markets for self-pay health services, such as LASIK, are often cited as a model for consumer engagement, but HSC research indicates that consumers’ experiences with self-pay markets have been romanticized and do not offer much encouragement as a roadmap for effective healthcare shopping without either regulation or a large role for insurers.
Engaging consumers to be more aware of cost and quality issues, however, can increase the value of health care for the U.S. population as a whole, said Ginsburg. Insurers will be a powerful consumer ally as they develop more sophisticated benefit structures and information tools to support consumers in choosing effective treatments from higher-quality, lower-cost providers. By investing in research on medical effectiveness, government can also empower consumers, said Ginsburg, adding that an untapped information resource to assess physician efficiency and quality is the Medicare Part B claims files.
