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Tales from the new frontier: pioneers' experiences with consumer-driven health care.
Health Serv Res. 2004 Aug; 39(4 Pt 2):1071-90.HS

Abstract

OBJECTIVE

To conduct site visits to study the early experiences of firms offering consumer-driven health care (CDHC) plans to their employees and firms that provide CDHC products.

DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING

A convenience sample of three firms offering CDHC products to their employees, one of which is also a large insurer, and one firm offering an early CDHC product to employers.

STUDY DESIGN

We conducted onsite interviews of four companies during the spring and summer of 2003. These four cases were not selected randomly. We contacted organizations that already had a consumer-driven plan in place by January 2002 so as to provide a complete year's worth of experience with CDHC.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS

The experience of the companies we visited indicated that favorable selection tends to result when a CDHC plan is introduced alongside traditional preferred provider organization (PPO) and health maintenance organization (HMO) plan offerings. Two sites demonstrated substantial cost-savings. Our case studies also indicate that the more mundane aspects of health care benefits are still crucial under CDHC. The size of the provider network accessible through the CDHC plan was critical, as was the role of premium contributions in the benefit design. Also, companies highlighted the importance of educating employees about new CDHC products: employees who understood the product were more likely to enroll.

CONCLUSIONS

Our site visits suggest the peril (risk selection) and the promise (cost savings) of CDHC. At this point there is still far more that we do not know about CDHC than we do know. Little is known about the extent to which CDHC changes people's behavior, the extent to which quality of care is affected by CDHC, and whether web-based information and tools actually make patients become better consumers.

Links

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Authors+Show Affiliations

Lo Sasso AT
Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, 2040 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.
Rice T
No affiliation info available
Gabel JR
No affiliation info available
Whitmore H
No affiliation info available

MeSH

Consumer BehaviorCost SavingsDecision Making, OrganizationalDeductibles and CoinsuranceEmployer Health CostsHealth Benefit Plans, EmployeeHealth Services AccessibilityHealth Services Needs and DemandHumansManaged Care ProgramsMedical Savings AccountsUnited States

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Language

eng

PubMed ID

15230912

Citation

Lo Sasso, Anthony T., et al. "Tales From the New Frontier: Pioneers' Experiences With Consumer-driven Health Care." Health Services Research, vol. 39, no. 4 Pt 2, 2004, pp. 1071-90.
Lo Sasso AT, Rice T, Gabel JR, et al. Tales from the new frontier: pioneers' experiences with consumer-driven health care. Health Serv Res. 2004;39(4 Pt 2):1071-90.
Lo Sasso, A. T., Rice, T., Gabel, J. R., & Whitmore, H. (2004). Tales from the new frontier: pioneers' experiences with consumer-driven health care. Health Services Research, 39(4 Pt 2), 1071-90.
Lo Sasso AT, et al. Tales From the New Frontier: Pioneers' Experiences With Consumer-driven Health Care. Health Serv Res. 2004;39(4 Pt 2):1071-90. PubMed PMID: 15230912.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - JOUR T1 - Tales from the new frontier: pioneers' experiences with consumer-driven health care. AU - Lo Sasso,Anthony T, AU - Rice,Thomas, AU - Gabel,Jon R, AU - Whitmore,Heidi, PY - 2004/7/3/pubmed PY - 2004/8/17/medline PY - 2004/7/3/entrez SP - 1071 EP - 90 JF - Health services research JO - Health Serv Res VL - 39 IS - 4 Pt 2 N2 - OBJECTIVE: To conduct site visits to study the early experiences of firms offering consumer-driven health care (CDHC) plans to their employees and firms that provide CDHC products. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING: A convenience sample of three firms offering CDHC products to their employees, one of which is also a large insurer, and one firm offering an early CDHC product to employers. STUDY DESIGN: We conducted onsite interviews of four companies during the spring and summer of 2003. These four cases were not selected randomly. We contacted organizations that already had a consumer-driven plan in place by January 2002 so as to provide a complete year's worth of experience with CDHC. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The experience of the companies we visited indicated that favorable selection tends to result when a CDHC plan is introduced alongside traditional preferred provider organization (PPO) and health maintenance organization (HMO) plan offerings. Two sites demonstrated substantial cost-savings. Our case studies also indicate that the more mundane aspects of health care benefits are still crucial under CDHC. The size of the provider network accessible through the CDHC plan was critical, as was the role of premium contributions in the benefit design. Also, companies highlighted the importance of educating employees about new CDHC products: employees who understood the product were more likely to enroll. CONCLUSIONS: Our site visits suggest the peril (risk selection) and the promise (cost savings) of CDHC. At this point there is still far more that we do not know about CDHC than we do know. Little is known about the extent to which CDHC changes people's behavior, the extent to which quality of care is affected by CDHC, and whether web-based information and tools actually make patients become better consumers. SN - 0017-9124 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/15230912/Tales_from_the_new_frontier:_pioneers'_experiences_with_consumer_driven_health_care_ DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -