The Health Shopper

This news broke on Computerworld:

"A trade association representing almost 1,300 insurance companies with 200 million customers announced last week that all of its members have agreed to support a common set of standards for creating and managing electronic personal health records.

"America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) compiled the standards with Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

"Scott Serota, president and CEO of the Chicago-based Blue Cross network, said that all 39 Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in the U.S. are aiming to offer standards-based personal health records (PHR) to their 98 million clients by the end of 2008.

"PHRs allow individuals to manage and view their own health information."

Talk about transparency! We'll soon be able to view our own medical records online, the same way we can review bank account information. But it also brings up another question with regard to privacy: Will insurers use the information to deny coverage? Not suprirsingly, they're saying they won't. Still, privacy will no doubt be a concern some people have with the program. Aetna will begin offering it to 1 million of its 15 million clients in February of 2007.

More than 70 percent of U.S. consumers say they know little or nothing about how much their doctors charge compared to other doctors, according to a survey sponsored by HealthMarkets.

When it comes to Americans estimating the cost of health care, usually, the price is wrong – because the estimate is too low. Most adults (65 percent) think that, in general, a high-priced doctor in the U.S. charges two or three times as much for the same procedure as a low-priced doctor. In fact, a review of HealthMarkets data for several selected procedures shows that some doctors charge nearly 10 times what others charge for the same procedure.

“Most Americans have no idea how much health care costs or how much it varies from one provider to another,” HealthMarkets President and CEO William J. Gedwed said. “If consumers are going to effectively manage their health care dollars, they need to know how much things will cost them.”

Fortunately, tools are now available for consumers to track how much the costs can vary. Vimo, for instance, lets users compare prices of surgical procedures at medical centers in their geographic area.

That's good news for respondents of the survey. Almost 70 percent of them said it would be useful to have online data comparing health care providers.

Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Texas acceded to objections from the Texas Medical Association (TMA) last week and postponed the launch of a new doctor-rating Web site. Under the BlueCompare system, blue ribbons were to have been posted next to doctors that have performed well. Light blue ribbons would have been posted by the names of doctors with "satisfactory performance," while other doctors would receive a grey ribbon. The system was based on evidence-base medicine guidelines (EBM). Similarly, a scale that indicated “more,” “average” or “less” would have given consumers a sense of which doctors were more affordable for similar medical procedures within the same geographic area.

Blue Cross planned to make its Web-based BlueCompare doctor ratings system available Jan. 1, but the TMA complained that the rating system was “faulty.” TMA's major criticism with BlueCompare seemed to be that it used health care bills and insurance claims instead of patients' actual medical records to evaluate quality of care. TMA claimed that the rating system would "perplex" patients.

So far, Blue Cross and Blue Shield hasn't responded to Vimo analysts to comment on the situation. But Darren Rodgers, a senior vice president at Blue Cross, told the Star-Telegram they were willing to modify the system if doctors have a suggestion "that eases some concern in the physician community, yet still leaves us with a robust tool for our consumers."

The rise of consumer driven healthcare (CDHC) means that more of the consumer’s healthcare spending is out-of-pocket. In exchange for taking on more responsibility, consumers (rightfully) demand greater access to quality and cost information. To meet that demand, Vimo also offers a service that gives consumers the ability to research and rate doctors.

Here at Vimo, our mission is to arm consumers with the information they need to make choices about healthcare products and services, and more information about doctors and their practices is an important component of this. We look forward to any alternatives offered by the Texas Medical Association or Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Texas regarding a publicly available rating system for their doctors and are keenly following other efforts around the country to improve transparency in the health care system. Meanwhile, we’re not standing still. Stay tuned to Vimo for additional tools and services we plan to unveil in 2007.

We're passing through the holiday zone again, and in keeping with the spirit of the season, Vimo has come up with a special offer that's truly a first of its kind.

If you instantly review your doctor at Vimo, we'll donate $1 to Toys for Tots. Tell your friends about this promotion, because if 100,000 people post 100,000 doctor reviews on our site, Toys for Tots will receive a hefty harvest from us this holiday season.

Run by the United States Marine Corps Reserve, Toys for Tots donates toys to children whose parents can't afford to buy them any gifts. Founded by Major Bill Hendricks in 1947, the organization is currently in the process of collecting toys for needy kids this Christmas.

You can instantly help Toys for Toys meet its Yule-time goals. You must write a review of 100 characters or more on your doctor to qualify for the donation. This offer is only good through the holidays.

A fresh round of reports about rising insurance premiums broke last week, including one in South Carolina, where a recent survey found that health insurance premiums are rising faster than wages. ”From 2000 to 2006 for family health coverage in South Carolina, premiums rose from $6,600 to almost $12,000, $11,990. … The median income for workers only increased from $23,057 dollars to just under 25 thousand during the time period.”

The problem is at its worst in California, where premiums have jumped 8.7 percent this year, outstripping the 7.7 percent increase nationwide, according to an annual survey by the California Healthcare Foundation in Oakland.

These skyrocketing premium prices reemphasize the importance of consumer driven health care as the best medicine for America’s healthcare crisis. While Americans are fed up with the increasing premiums of traditional plans, they are satisfied with the service they receive from inexpensive CDHC plans.

Another fact worth nothing: The punishing inflation that holders of traditional health plans are experiencing isn't being felt by the holders of Consumer Directed HealthCare (CDHC) plans. A study published by Aetna in October shows that costs for CHDC increased only 3% from 2002-2005. The number of HSA compatible plans available to consumers increases by the day, as insurers are getting on the CDHC bandwagon.

What all of this data suggests is:

- As more CDHC plans become available, consumers will have a wider array of plans to pick from, that fit their specific lifestyle and healthcare requirements.
– Consumers have much to gain by shopping around for the best values. Sites like Vimo.com provide excellent tools for side-by-side comparison of plan features and premiums.