HFMA VIEWS

Robert Fromberg
Editor in Chief, HFMA

Price tags on bandages, syringes, and other hospital supplies—there for all to see. That’s what a British hospital is doing to raise awareness of supply costs, according to a story in the Daily Mirror. “Because we are trying to cut costs we are trying to get staff to ask, is this bandage really necessary?” the story quotes a spokesperson at Worthing Hospital as saying.

This is one example of the double-edged sword of healthcare costs. On the positive side, I remember the CEO at one organization where I worked giving all staff a statement of their true health insurance costs—not just the amount taken out of our paychecks, but also the amount the organization paid. This was a great way to raise awareness of the true costs of health insurance. And unlike the example above, it was not designed to get us to ask whether health insurance was “really necessary.” On the provider side, awareness of costs can help bring forth discussions efficiency and medical necessity.

However, when it’s our arm bleeding, we all want the nurse in question to respond to the question, “Is this bandage necessary?” with a rousing, “Yes!”

What examples are you seeing of efforts to raise awareness of costs? And how far is too far in this effort?