Everyone likes to get a good deal.  This is normal consumer behavior.  We don’t always think about bargain hunting for health care services, but health care is becoming more consumer-focused and comparison shopping can be a huge advantage for patients.  CNN Senior Medical Producer, David S. Martin’s recent article shares some tips to help you find the best value for health care services. 

·         Use websites and tools to help you comparison shop for health care services – and make sure you do this before seeing a provider.  The Outofpocket search engine references 100+ price transparency websites and tools, so it’ a great place to start your research.

·         Don’t forget to check out some of the 16+ state hospital association websites that allow you to comparison shop for inpatient procedures.  

·         You also should visit your state website to comparison shop for services.  Some states including New Hampshire, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania have launched websites to help consumers comparison shop.   I highly recommend comparing prices in your state, to other states, in order to determine an average price for a specific service.   

·         Be sure to use some of the vendor tools like Health Care Blue Book and New Choice Health - that identify average costs insurance plans pay for procedures nationwide.

Over the past two years, I have been researching price transparency tools and frequently update my research to include the new tools as they become available.  My list of tools and websites is getting longer and longer.   If you would like a list of websites/tools that provide price transparency, please contact me at info@outofpocket.com and I’d be happy to send you this research.