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How Hospitals Can Compare Prices, Despite Not Having a Consumerism Model

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By Michael Crawford

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The inability to compare prices is an often-cited reason for why healthcare hasn’t fully evolved into a consumerism model — patients don’t comparison shop among healthcare providers, using price as a significant factor in decision-making like they do when comparing other purchases.

So when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) rolled out a regulation that required hospitals to post their “chargemaster” rates online, as of Jan. 1, 2019, it was another experiment in creating a more price-aware environment.

Nearly

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Headshot of Michael Crawford

Michael Crawford

Michael Crawford became interested in healthcare listening to the conversations around the patio table as his parents and their colleagues talked about work. For the past 30 years he's used his marketing expertise to help medical groups, hospitals and health systems connect with consumers, physicians, employers, brokers and health plans. He advocates for a strategic approach to marketing, audience-based communications, coordination between marketing and customer service functions, and early inclusion of the marketing discipline when planning services. His work has earned more than a dozen awards over the past few years. He’s no stranger to healthcare reorganizations or healthcare reform, from the failed effort during the 90s to the implementation of the ACA to today’s efforts at repeal. His blog, Healthcare Marketing Survival Guide, offers advice for B2C and B2B healthcare marketers trying to chart their course during uncertain times. Connect with him via LinkedIn or follow him on Twitter @health_crawford.

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