Washington collaborative recommends warranty

In another sign of how health care in America is changing, members of a collaborative charged with improving health outcomes have recommended that providers offer some sort of warranty on their services. The cited example suggests that patients should not be financially liable for their care if they experience certain avoidable complications. The article draws a comparison with certain professions where if workers in those industries fail to maintain basic standards, the customer expects not to pay.

This recommendation follows in the same vein as what Geisinger Health System has already pioneered. Likewise, Medicare has started to reduce payments if providers have poor outcomes. As patients are expected to pay more and more out-of-pocket, it would not be hard to imagine their becoming savvier in their shopping for certain operations and preferring guarantees such as this one.