Improving healthcare cost transparency through mobile application development

Abstract

Managing the rising costs of healthcare is of critical importance to both the public and private sectors. Those who need healthcare face a daunting challenge in determining the projected price of care as there is currently a lack of transparency with respect to obtaining the price of procedures from healthcare providers such as hospitals and labs. The price of a given medical procedure can vary by thousands of dollars depending on where it is performed, with patients often unable to compare prices and select the best one. Patients are often at a disadvantage when it comes to negotiating healthcare costs as the care may be of life or death importance to the patient. Higher healthcare costs put a greater financial burden on patients, insurers and employers. In order to increase healthcare price transparency and support patients in the search for quality healthcare, we have developed a mobile device application that compares the price of procedures at local hospitals based on publically available price data.