The health care information tide rises slowly
August 04, 2013
DocSpot has been under development for over four years, and a central challenge has been getting access to meaningful data to help people make better health care decisions. Pricing information in particular has been rare. Over the years, we've witnessed some changes. One recent example is Medicare's posting of pricing information. Another example mentioned in the news last month is how some providers in Oklahoma have been posting surgery prices.
This shift in mentality makes sense -- as Americans continue to fret over rising health care premiums, patients are increasingly asked to bear more of the costs of medical care. As more and more people pay out of their own pockets, demand for lower-cost services increases. Some providers respond by advertising their lower prices. Obviously, we'll continue to have high-cost providers for a long time (people continue to associate high prices with high quality and changes in the health care industry happen much more slowly than in some other industries), but we're encouraged by the initial signs of an industry changing to become more transparent.