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The Business of Health Care Report
On today's program, we'll look at a
developing trend in health care. A pair of recent surveys suggest that
a new wave of health-care consumerism is around the corner - especially if patients continue
to pay more of their own health care costs through higher co-payments and deductibles.
Employers are behind this trend as they ask employees to pay a larger share of their health
insurance cost. More than 90 percent of the 600 business
leaders surveyed by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, said they will probably require their
employees to foot more of their health insurance bill next year. The employers cite an expected
18 percent increase in health care costs from 2003 to 2004 as a reason. In another survey, noted health care
researcher Russell Coile Jr. predicts that such a scenario will transform health care competition
from a wholesale market, dominated by health plans, to a retail market, where consumers are in
control. Coile notes that this would "put a premium on investing capital in new facilities,
improving patient satisfaction and customer service and competing on quality." He adds that many hospitals have set
benchmarks for patient service ratings, predicting that those hospitals that achieve best-in-class
service will generate higher volumes and repeat customers. While this consumer-driven health care concept
has many good points, there is concern that some consumers will delay health care or forego
prescription purchases if their out-of-pocket expenses climb too high. And, some will likely join
the ranks of the uninsured, simply opting out of company-based insurance plans altogether,
increasing charity care and uncollectibles for hospitals. Somewhere between the employer's need to hold
the line on costs and the employee's need to make ends meet, there must be a middle ground - if
the so-called health care consumer age is to be more than just a prediction. For Texas Health Resources
and its family of hospitals - Harris Methodist Hospitals, Presbyterian
Healthcare System and Arlington Memorial Hospital - I'm CEO
Doug Hawthorne
with "The Business of Health Care Report" on NewsRadio 1080 KRLD.
©
2003 Texas Health Resources |
I'm Doug Hawthorne, President and CEO of Texas Health Resources, with
"The Business of Health Care Report" on 