The Future of Consumer-Centric Healthcare is Here
BY Adi Y. Segal & Nathan Carroll
Response to The New York Times article “Why Don’t We Shop for Health Care? Doctors.” by Austin Frakt, which appears in print on July 31, 2018, on Page B4 of the New York edition.
We at SeeThru want to thank Prof. Austin Frakt for his NYT Upshot piece on July 30, 2018. He perfectly elucidates the existing issues in the U.S. healthcare system which prevent patients from being educated consumers. We are building a platform that offers solutions for many of the financial barriers facing patients today.
SeeThru is a blockchain-enabled platform that prioritizes price transparency in order to change the world of healthcare payments. Our ecosystem brings patients the sorely needed value-based consumer experience found in every other service industry. SeeThru utilizes smart contracts for direct pricing with providers. In doing so, SeeThru removes third parties, which drives down patient costs, increases provider revenue, and improves access to care around the world.
Healthcare suffers from a lack of transparency and patient agency. However, research by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has found that 69% of people want insurance companies to disclose what they pay physicians and hospitals for procedures. Furthermore, it found that 82% of patients who compare healthcare prices would do so again. We demand price transparency in every other consumer setting. Imagine going to the supermarket with a grocery list, being handed everything on that list, and then two weeks later receiving a bill for what the supermarket felt was a reasonable price. People wouldn’t stand for that. And, at SeeThru we also don’t accept it for your health — among the most important shopping decisions you’ll make.
Currently, patients suffer from the paradox of value. Simply explained: A diamond is worth more than water. However, if a person dying of thirst in the desert was presented with both, they’d pay far more for the water. This is similar to what the healthcare marketplace does to patients. It preys upon people when they are vulnerable, it obscures the costs, it says “don’t worry about how much this glass of water will be; you need it to survive,” and then it charges you more for it than a diamond. As mentioned by Frakt, often Americans go without healthcare because of this dilemma and the inability to pay these high prices for vital services.
Sadly, both the need and the problem is only getting worse. A NCHS survey found that high-deductible health plans (HDHP) are on the rise. As of 2018 nearly a quarter of all Americans had an HDHP. With 40% of the U.S. unable to cover a $400 unexpected bill, it’s no surprise they’re cutting back on healthcare spending. Patients are increasingly vulnerable and need a solution.
Even when they want to value shop, patients and providers simply don’t have the tools and haven’t been trained to look for such resources. In his final paragraph, Frakt laments that there’s no current solution and sets his vision for something to help patients and providers make financially responsible decisions. He writes, “we could provide physicians with price, quality and distance information for the services they recommend. Further, with financial bonuses, we could give physicians (instead of, or in addition to, patients) some incentive to identify and suggest lower-cost care.”
Fortunately, we’re already building this! SeeThru to Transparent Healthcare. On our mobile platform, patients can find providers, compare prices, and value shop for the best possible care at the most affordable price. We return agency to patients by bringing clarity to a confusing market. To extend the desert metaphor one final time — we allow you to shop around for that glass of water so you’re not paying diamond prices.
With SeeThru, patients and providers are given a powerful marketplace where they can search for the treatment of anything. Patients can quickly find a local physician to treat their stubbed toe and even cheaper cardiothoracic surgery abroad. We have also developed a proprietary Patient Reported Outcomes system that will aggregate real time results for reliable quality metrics. On our platform users can filter by distance, price and quality of care quickly and conveniently at their fingertips.
SeeThru has formed partnerships with private providers, large practice groups, health systems, and even State health departments. We are bringing a paradigm shift to healthcare payments and always welcome new partnerships. By this fall, patients and providers will finally have the sorely needed value-based consumer experience found in every other service industry.
