MBGH Launches Price Transparency Program

mbghConsumers have an increasing amount of “skin in the game” when it comes to medical and financial decisions for their care, and their interest to access credible information and user-friendly tools and resources about cost and quality is growing.

MBGH Launches Price and Quality Transparency Program to Support Employers in Reducing Medical Costs

Issued by: Midwest Business Group on HealthDate: Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Transparency services help employees make informed health care decisionsCHICAGO – Jan. 27, 2015 – Consumers have an increasing amount of “skin in the game” when it comes to medical and financial decisions for their care, and their interest to access credible information and user-friendly tools and resources about cost and quality is growing. To help employers provide this information to their employees, the Midwest Business Group on Health (MBGH) is collaborating with two leading transparency service providers – Change Healthcare and Compass Professional Health Services. One of the nation’s leading non-profit business groups of private and public employers, MBGH is implementing this program through its affiliate, the Midwest Health Purchasers Foundation (MHPF).

“We selected two transparency organizations that offer high level services to provide our members with a range of options to meet the needs of their unique populations,” said Larry Boress, MHPF president and MBGH president and CEO. “We understand the health care marketplace is complicated and people need additional help to understand costs and evaluate treatment options. MBGH believes our new price transparency program offers sophisticated technology and expert guidance to help employees identify quality providers and understand the costs associated with their medical conditions.”

Change Healthcare (CHC) is a leader in providing online health care consumer engagement and cost and quality transparency solutions. It provides employees a new way to choose and use health care, promoting savings opportunities with personal messaging and educating them to make elective health care decisions based on quality, cost and convenience. CHC helps employers promote their existing care management programs and on-site clinics, while guiding employees to find quality health care and save costs.

Compass Professional Health Services’ Health Activation Platform brings together online resources and health care consultants to provide price transparency, prevention and premier providers to help companies create sustainable health care savings and empower employees to make more informed health care decisions. By keeping it simple for employees, Compass helps individuals to select high-quality providers and understand the cost variation between different facilities and physicians, and provides a platform for companies to incentivize employees to get the preventive care they need.

Reducing medical costs using price transparency services
To introduce employers to the importance of providing transparency services to employers and to these new vendor partners, MBGH is hosting a meeting on Thursday, February 12, 2015 from 1:30 PM – 4:00 PM (Central Time). Prior to the educational program, a luncheon will be provided to introduce employers to Compass and CHC.  Register to attend the lunch and/or meeting in person or via webinar. For additional information or questions on how to participate, please contact Mindy McBee (312-372-9090, mmcbee@mbgh.org).

“The last 20 years of my life have been focused on increasing employee engagement,” said Jan Berger, MD, MBGH medical director and president and CEO, Health Intelligence Partners. “Initially there were few tools available to help consumers make thoughtful decisions. It’s exciting to be working with these two organizations as they support employers and employees to better understand their health care options in a consumer-friendly and easy-to-use manner.”

About Change Healthcare
Established in 2007, Change Healthcare is on a mission to transform the way Americans purchase and utilize health care services by driving sustainable engagement at the individual level. With a national customer base of health plans and employers, Change Healthcare is a premier national provider of health care consumer engagement and transparency solutions, enabling consumers to: better understand and use their health care benefits; make informed health care purchasing decisions based on quality, cost and convenience; and manage higher out-of-pocket responsibility and realize savings. This, in turn, helps both health plans and employers: control their healthcare costs; successfully migrate to more cost-effective plans; optimize existing wellness programs; and improve employee satisfaction and retention. For more information, visit www.changehealthcare.com.

About Compass Professional Health Services
Compass Professional Health Services is the champion for simpler, smarter health care. At a time when companies are shifting more costs to employees through higher deductibles and high-deductible health plans, Compass’ Health Activation Platform brings together online resources and healthcare consultants to engage people in their own health. The Compass platform offers price transparency, prevention and premier providers to create sustainable health care savings for companies and empower employees to make more informed healthcare decisions. Established in 2005, Compass not only helps employees to select high-quality physicians and understand the cost variation between different facilities and physicians, it also provides a platform for companies to incentivize employees to get the preventive care they need. Today, Compass’ health care solutions are used by more than 1,900 companies and 2 million members, nationwide. To learn more, visit compassphs.com.

About the Midwest Health Purchasers Foundation
The Midwest Health Purchasers Foundation (MHPF) was created as a non-profit, taxable Illinois corporation in 1997 to enable members of the Midwest Business Group on Health to have a vehicle for the group purchasing of health care benefit programs, products and services. MHPF provides the due diligence needed to identify effective, high quality vendors and uses the potential of multiple employers’ purchasing dollars and covered lives to negotiate lower rates and umbrella agreements.

About the Midwest Business Group on Health
With more than 120 member organizations, the Midwest Business Group on Health is one of the nation’s leading non-profit business groups of large, self-insured public and private employers serving as a catalyst for community initiatives to improve the quality, safety and cost-effectiveness of the health care delivery system. MBGH is an essential resource to support employers in effectively managing their health benefits through high-quality education, research, networking and benchmarking. MBGH is a founding member of the National Business Coalition on Health.

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