LA Times reports on patient billed $809 for a boot she found on Amazon for $80
November 16, 2021
Dear Colleagues,
Today, the Los Angeles Times ran a story about a patient, Stephanie Noonan Drachkovitch, who recently broke her foot while horseback riding. She got treated at a UCLA-affiliated orthopedic facility in Thousand Oaks, California.
The focal point of the story is that the patient found the exact same boot at 1/10 the cost on Amazon:
Why does this matter?
With increasing price transparency, consumers are starting to scrutinize their bills. Even though the CDM price does not flow to the insured patient, there's a concern that the insurance companies are paying the full price (or nearly) and it impacts the patients' premiums. This makes patients upset.
If you haven't done a Transparent Pricing Review within the last year, you should do one now. HPS can help set defensible prices and model the impact on your net revenues. In most of our TPR engagements, we end up lowering more code prices than raising and still have a sizable gain on net revenues.
