Anytime consumerization hits an industry, the power shifts from the service providers to their customers. We've seen it happen over and over in multiple industries most recently transportation by Uber and travel accommodations by Airbnb.
And now it is the perfect storm of (1) patient access to pricing data combined with (2) government regulations combined with (3) technology that is now bringing consumerization to healthcare.
Over the next few weeks, let's look at three driving factors that healthcare providers must consider and prepare themselves for as these changes land on their doorstep.
Pricing transparency in healthcare:
In 2015, 43 states received a failing grade in pricing transparency. But now just two years later we have companies like Healthcare Bluebook out of Nashville who are casting the light not only on pricing transparency but also pairing that with quality metrics and making this information easily accessible to patients. Anytime pricing transparency arrives into an industry it removes the competitive differentiator of price and forces the service providers in that industry to figure out and execute on what they are really good at. In the vast majority of these cases that differentiation comes in the customer or in this case patient experience.
Click here to see the ebook of our conversation with Dr. Jeffrey Rice, CEO, Healthcare Bluebook. His insight and expertise into pricing transparency is eye opening.
Also, stay tuned for Part 2 where we sat down with Phil Fegan, CIO, P3 Health Group to discuss the arrival of the subscription economy in healthcare and regulatory implications within full-risk managed care medical groups.