PORTLAND, OR — Feb. 7, 2017 — For the first time, HealthSparq now offers health care providers direct access to the company’s cost estimator tools. Doctors have traditionally had little-to-no insight into what their patients should expect to pay to for medical services and treatments. With the new Provider View offering, health care practitioners can now review critical information with their patients to help them decide on treatment plans and specialist referrals based on both cost and quality.Similar to the company’s flagship HealthSparq One health care shopping tool, providers can now see procedure and treatment costs, patient reviews, quality reports, accepted service locations and more — all personalized to a patient’s specific benefits information and deductible. This knowledge allows doctors to help patients make better-informed choices and avoid medical bill sticker-shock for members of health plans that offer this new enhancement to HealthSparq One.“‘How much will this cost me?’ is a question that everybody should be able to ask their doctor,” said Mark Menton, interim CEO at HealthSparq. “By putting this information into the hands of doctors and consumers, people can create a dialogue with their doctor about how cost impacts their treatment plan, and decide as a team which procedures and treatments may be most valuable. This gives people power over their health care in a way that they never have before.”Today, 74 million people across 71 health plans have access to health care cost and quality information using HealthSparq. Now health plans that partner with HealthSparq on new this tool can give patients the opportunity to work with a trusted provider to understand options and make choices in a collaborative setting. This is just one of the many ways in which HealthSparq is working to fight surprise medical bills and the convoluted processes of the health care system.Providers and health plans can learn more about how to access the tool and how it works by visiting the HealthSparq website.About HealthSparq HealthSparq empowers people to make smarter health care choices by providing the cost and quality information they need to truly compare health providers and services. By enabling people to see the total costs of care for more than 400 medical treatments based on their individual health plan, comparison shop for procedures and providers, review quality ratings, learn about alternative care options, schedule appointments or buy health care services online, HealthSparq is helping people navigate the health care system as they never have before.
Since our founding in 2008, from our home in Portland, Oregon, HealthSparq has grown to serve 71 health plans and their 74 million members nationwide. Interested in joining a health care revolution? Contact us at HealthSparq.com or tweet us @HealthSparq.
