Clinical Pathology Laboratories Should Understand How Wellpoint Used ‘Capped-Pricing’ Strategy to Save CalPERS $5.5M on Surgery Costs
New strategy by employers and payers encourages patients to choose lower-cost providers, or pay the difference over the price cap
Payers are teaming with employers to steer patients to lower cost providers. Their common goal is to reduce the cost of care without compromising the quality of care delivered to their beneficiaries. This trend may involve clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups, particularly where a lab is seen as a high-cost provider in its service area.
There is credible evidence that patients are willing to consider lower-cost providers. For example, a pilot project aimed a cutting the cost for knee and hip surgeries saved $5.5 million for the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS), the nation’s largest pension fund and third largest purchaser of healthcare benefits. (more…)
