Fortunately, there are steps plan sponsors can take to establish a foundation for trust.
First, employers must take a lead role in educating employees about the impact of
transparency laws and publicly provide as much information as possible. Websites, email,
corporate intranets—they are all powerful
vehicles for informing workers on how they can
access price comparison tools as well as communicate a company’s position on new
legislation.
But building trust hinges on more than simply educating individuals on price. Transparency
about quality, performance, and value can also strengthen the relationship between patient
and provider.
Morrisey agrees that a fuller picture of a healthcare service’s potential
value is critical for achieving outcomes that will lead to enhanced health and greater
trust. “You can’t really make a proper comparison [of medical services] if you have some
information on quality and some information on price,” he says. “Knowing both price and
quality matters when making informed decisions.”
For this reason, organizations would be wise to provide employees with performance metrics
around healthcare providers and their services. Case in point: An employer could offer a
list of preferred knee replacement providers the company has vetted against its own quality
criteria. This not only ensures the delivery of meaningful information, it demonstrates a
plan sponsor’s willingness to perform additional research and legwork.
Another approach to educating employees involves identifying trustworthy sources for finding
critical healthcare information. “An employer can say, ‘Here’s what we believe to be a
couple of really good websites,’” says Morrisey. “Employees can then look at those and get a
sense of where they should go for the best service.”
But while clear communication, quality indicators, and resource materials go a long way
toward increasing transparency in healthcare and building trust, there are limitations to
consider. “There’s so much nuance to medicine that you can’t convey to someone exactly
what’s covered in a plan in micro detail,” says Chernew. “It just won’t happen. The same is
true with pricing.”
Instead, he adds, “It’s most important for an employer to understand the overall satisfaction
people have with plans they are considering offering to their employees. When helping
employees choose among several plans, it is important for employers to convey broad
information about benefits and network breadth and report to employees how satisfied others
have been on that plan rather than employers trying to describe all the small details of
what’s covered.”
