My Cost Gives Alegent Health Consumers the Power of Information
Release Date: 01/19/2007
...
Focus on Consumers Brings Cost and Quality Details Just a Click Away
OMAHA, Neb. – Today, Alegent Health unveils My Cost - a unique, patent-pending online tool that provides consumers with information on projected costs they will incur for nearly 500 common treatments and procedures, along with their out-of-pocket responsibility. All estimates will be personally relevant as they are based on the consumer’s individual health plan or financial situation. It’s as easy as going to Alegent.com and clicking on the blue My Cost button in the bottom right corner of the screen.
My Cost represents an integral part of Alegent Health’s commitment to putting consumers at the center of the health care equation. After all, information is power. Providing meaningful information to consumers on both cost and quality will lead them to make better informed health care decisions. In September 2005, Alegent Health began publicly reporting comparative quality data on clinical performance – providing benchmarks for achievement in the treatment of heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia. Right below the My Cost button is a blue Quality Reports button that provides a link to the most recent quality scores for all of Alegent Health’s hospitals.
“Over the past 40 years, the health care industry has managed to create a system in which there are virtually hundreds of prices for the same procedure. Through My Cost and our quality reporting, we are providing a transparent system that helps consumers understand their true cost of care, and provides information about expected outcomes for the treatments and procedures being considered,” said Alegent Health CEO Wayne A. Sensor.
Alegent Health’s consumer cost transparency project has been a year in the making – giving it time to truly understand the needs of patients, families and the communities it serves. While some health systems have begun to provide consumers “list price” or average cost information, Alegent Health’s unique approach is even more customized for the consumer. My Cost provides information based on an individual’s health plan or personal financial situation, to help them more precisely determine the specific cost of the procedure or test to them, as well as out-of-pocket costs for a large variety of common medical procedures. Uninsured consumers will have access to a list of self-pay prices for frequently purchased services as well as information on financial assistance programs for needed services that are cost-prohibitive.
My Cost will empower patients by providing them information that will not only help them make better budget decisions, but decisions that will ultimately lead to better health. By linking quality scores with personally relevant cost data, Sensor said Alegent Health hopes to provide patients with the information they need to understand the value of their health care and to make more informed health care choices.
“Alegent Health has not been alone in our endeavor to create a meaningful consumer cost information tool,” said Alegent Health CFO Scott Wooten. “Our partners in this project are world-class leaders in their industries, and like us, recognize that if we are going to expect individuals to truly take control of their health and their health care decisions, we must give them the information they need to make the right decisions.’’
Union Pacific is one of the business partners that played an important role in helping Alegent Health create its My Cost tool. In fact, the tool was unveiled for the first time at Union Pacific Headquarters to an audience of media, community leaders and other business partners that played a part in the design and implementation of My Cost.
"Alegent Health took a bold step when it decided to publish prices and report its quality scores," said Barb Schaefer, senior vice president-Human Resources at Union Pacific. "Health care is one of our fastest rising expenses, and as a company, we face the challenge of providing affordable and competitive benefits that our employees need to protect themselves and their families. By putting both cost and quality information in the hands of our employees, their families and our community, we all will have a stake in – and control over – our health care outcomes. And, when more of the control is ours, my hope is that everyone will come to understand the true value of our health care options and benefits."
Not only is Union Pacific one of the business partners that Alegent Health worked closely with when gathering input during the development of My Cost, but its employees represent a substantial portion of the local population utilizing health care in the Omaha area.
Vickie Macafee, director of training development-Human Resources at Union Pacific, said, "As part of our nationally-recognized health care program, Union Pacific provides its employees with information and recommendations on how to be better health care consumers. For example, the company offers a list of questions to ask your doctor, suggestions on how to use benefits wisely, and recommends all employees get an annual physical. But being a good consumer also comes down to knowing quality and cost. We are all expected to take greater responsibility for our own health care decisions, and having cost and quality information readily available will help us make better decisions."
As My Cost goes live, about 50 percent of Alegent Health’s insured consumers will be able to access cost information. Anyone who is insured through Medicare Parts A and B, United Healthcare, Coventry Healthcare of Nebraska, Aetna or CIGNA will be able to receive personalized cost information, based on their health insurance plan. Self-pay information will be available to everyone.
Within the next few months, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska customers will be able to use My Cost, and Alegent Health will continue to work with Mutual of Omaha and other health insurers to bring them online as well. By late spring, Alegent Health estimates that more than 75 percent of its consumers will be able to easily obtain cost information through the My Cost tool. Alegent Health also hopes to add professional fees – such as anesthesiology, radiology and physician fees – in the next six months to a year. Currently the costs reflect facility fees only.
Vendor partners working closely with Alegent Health in the development and ongoing support of the My Cost application are MEDSEEK, providing the portal solution and integration technology, and Healthcare Data Exchange (HDX®), a Siemens Medical Solutions company, providing integrated electronic transaction services.
In addition to the cost transparency initiative, in the past year, Alegent Health has launched other patient care and quality efforts including:
The establishment of Quick Care clinics to conveniently treat some of the most common ailments facing children and families. The project involves development of in-store clinics through a partnership with the Hy-Vee Food Store chain and represents an effort to provide care in a patient-friendly atmosphere.
Creation of the Alegent 20, a series of clinical quality indicators that are used for both internal and external performance measures. The establishment of these benchmarks is leading to measurable improvements in quality. Alegent Health’s overall composite score has jumped 10 percentage points in the past 16 months – from 88 to 98 percent.
Alegent Health will be the first health system in Nebraska to implement VISICU’s eICU® Program – scheduled to be operational in July 2007. The eICU® Program is the most advanced pairing of high-quality patient care and technology in critical care medicine. The eICU technology’s early warning software, remote monitoring tools, and communication tools provide remote clinicians the information necessary to partner with ICU clinicians as a proactive and integrated team. All health systems that have implemented the eICU program have shown significant reductions in patient mortality and length of stay, and a significant improvement in patient outcomes.
Alegent Health is the largest not-for-profit, faith-based health care system in Nebraska and southwestern Iowa with nine acute care hospitals, more than 100 sites of service, over 1,200 physicians on its medical staff and roughly 8,500 employees. It’s making healthcare better with an exceptional commitment to quality and by providing patient focused care for the body, mind and spirit of every person consistent with its faith-based mission. Alegent Health continues the health ministry begun by its sponsors, Catholic Health Initiatives and Immanuel Health Systems. At Alegent Health, patients and their families find a continuum of care, from women's and children's services, primary care, wellness counseling, and senior care to cardiovascular services, orthopaedics, oncology, physical rehabilitation and behavioral health.
