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Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to Fund NORC at the University of Chicago Research on the Value of Price Transparency in Health Care

Press Release

CHICAGO, Dec. 3, 2013 — NORC at the University of Chicago has been awarded a research grant to study the impact of quality and price transparency on consumer choice of high quality, yet less costly health care. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation awarded a grant to NORC researchers under its new initiative, “Understanding the Use and Impact of Price Data in Health Care.” NORC will partner with Cerner Corporation, a global health care company, and Change Healthcare, a leading consumer engagement and cost transparency company, on the two-year effort.

“The study will examine how employees at Cerner Corporation respond to Change Healthcare’s personalized, proactive cost transparency tools, Ways to SaveTM Alerts, and Cost Lookup,” according to Elaine Swift, Ph.D., Principal Research Scientist at NORC at the University of Chicago.


Swift and fellow NORC researcher Jon Gabel will assess:

  • Whether or not customized cost savings messages drive consumers to lower cost, higher quality healthcare services.
  • Which healthcare services consumers are likely to change based on access to cost and quality information.
  • How demographics, attitudes and other characteristics impact consumer response to customized messages.
  • Whether or not the adoption of improved quality information increases the effectiveness of customized messages.
  • The characteristics of employees who opt out of receiving customized messages.

“Our goal is to learn how employees covered by high deductible health plans respond to transparency interventions and explore ways to encourage informed shopping for health care coverage,” Swift said.

“As policymakers, business leaders and consumers struggle to rein in health care costs, evidence on whether or not customized messaging in price transparency holds promise could be a real game changer,” Gabel added.

Cerner, a global health care company headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., was selected as a partner in NORC’s research study because of its long-standing commitment to controlling health care costs and encouraging employee wellness.

Change Healthcare brings to the study a proactive, personalized approach to consumer engagement that is rooted in behavioral science. Its application of concepts including choice architecture, message framing, bounded rationality and priming – coupled with its use of claims data, comprehensive quality data and user preferences – allows for highly customized cost transparency outreach. 

“There is tremendous value in health care cost transparency and consumer engagement – value for plan sponsors, consumers and our society as a whole,” said Change Healthcare President and CEO Doug Ghertner. “Change Healthcare is proud to be a pioneer in this space, and we welcome the opportunity to be rigorously and externally evaluated by a well-respected organization like NORC.”

“The study will examine how employees at Cerner Corporation respond to Change Healthcare’s personalized, proactive cost transparency tools, Ways to SaveTM Alerts, and Cost Lookup.”

Elaine Swift

Principal Research Scientist

“The study will examine how employees at Cerner Corporation respond to Change Healthcare’s personalized, proactive cost transparency tools, Ways to SaveTM Alerts, and Cost Lookup.”

About Change Healthcare

Established in 2007, Change Healthcare is on a mission to transform the way Americans purchase and utilize healthcare services by driving sustainable engagement at the individual level.  With a national client base of health plans and employers covering lives in all 50 states, Change Healthcare is the premier national provider of healthcare cost transparency and consumer engagement solutions that enable consumers to: better understand and utilize their healthcare benefits; make informed healthcare purchasing decisions based on quality, cost and convenience; and manage higher out-of-pocket responsibility and realize savings. To learn more, visit www.changehealthcare.com.


About NORC at the University of Chicago

NORC at the University of Chicago conducts research and analysis that decision-makers trust. As a nonpartisan research organization and a pioneer in measuring and understanding the world, we have studied almost every aspect of the human experience and every major news event for more than eight decades. Today, we partner with government, corporate, and nonprofit clients around the world to provide the objectivity and expertise necessary to inform the critical decisions facing society.

www.norc.org

Contact: For more information, please contact Eric Young at NORC at young-eric@norc.org or (703) 217-6814 (cell).