Change Healthcare Analysis Identifies Eight High-Cost, High-Frequency and Highly Variable Services that Offer the Greatest Opportunity to Save on Healthcare

BRENTWOOD, Tenn., Feb. 5, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Eight high-cost healthcare services with high price variability present the greatest opportunity to save on healthcare costs, according to the latest Healthcare Transparency Index (HCTI) released by Change Healthcare^®, the market leader in consumer engagement and cost transparency.

Some of these "Target" category services with the greatest opportunities for cost savings include CT scans, which varied in price from $300 to more than $2,600, and office visits with diabetes screening, which ranged from $118 to $407.

Change Healthcare's HCTI tracks cost variability of common healthcare services across various prescription, medical, dental and vision services from quarter to quarter. To uncover services with the greatest opportunity for savings, Change Healthcare created the Transparency Matrix, which identifies services that are both high cost and highly variable in price. In this latest HCTI, eight services fell into the Target quadrant:

Average costs for these services ranged from $233 for mammograms to $8,324 for C-section delivery.

"Our data show costs for common procedures can vary significantly, even in the same zip code," said Doug Ghertner, president and CEO of Change Healthcare. "Care setting may contribute to costs differences, but often there's little explanation for why common treatments may cost two, three or four times more at one provider versus another."

Certain services, when analyzed at the most granular level, can vary by as much as tenfold, according to the report. CT scans of the pelvis/abdomen varied in price by 988 percent, abdominal ultrasounds 611 percent, and chest CTs 462 percent. Even common services can vary significantly in price; an adult dental exam with x-rays varied in price by 192 percent.

Plan sponsors can leverage this information by applying the Transparency Matrix to their own population. By reviewing services that are high cost, highly variable in price and used frequently within the plan, plan sponsors can better target communications to employees to help them find better value for their healthcare dollars.

"Understanding cost and price variability is the first step to helping plan sponsors and participants save," said Ghertner. "Consumers also need to be proactively engaged on an ongoing basis. They need access to personalized cost and quality information, and they need the education and resources to help them leverage that information."

Based on its work with large, self-insured employer and health plan clients nationwide, Change Healthcare has found that significant cost savings are possible when consumers have access to benefits education; cost information is personalized to the consumer's own benefits and out-of-pocket costs; savings opportunities are easy to understand and act on; quality ratings accompany costs; and information is timely and relevant.

The new HCTI report released today is based on claims from a cohort representing more than 167 million claims, among more than 5.5 million Change Healthcare members nationally, from the third quarter of 2012 to the third quarter of 2013. Updates to the HCTI will be released quarterly and available at www.changehealthcare.com.

About Change Healthcare
Established in 2007, Change Healthcare is on a mission to transform the way Americans purchase and utilize healthcare services by driving sustainable engagement at the individual level.  With a national client base of health plans and employers covering lives in all 50 states, Change Healthcare is the premier national provider of healthcare cost transparency and consumer engagement solutions that enable consumers to: better understand and utilize their healthcare benefits; make informed healthcare purchasing decisions based on quality, cost and convenience; and manage higher out-of-pocket responsibility and realize savings. This, in turn, helps health plans and self-insured employers: control their healthcare cost growth trend; successfully migrate to more cost-effective plan types; optimize existing wellness programs and on-site clinics; and improve member/employee satisfaction and retention.  To learn more about Change Healthcare and its consumer engagement solutions, visit www.changehealthcare.com.

Contact:  Laura Alabed
Senior Manager, Marketing and Communications
Change Healthcare Corporation
(615) 775-9441
[email protected]

SOURCE Change Healthcare

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