Tennessee Insurer Launches Online Physician Comparison Tool

Main Category: Primary Care / General Practice
Also Included In: IT / Internet / E-mail
Article Date: 19 Sep 2008 - 9:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions  

BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee this week launched an online physician cost and quality comparison tool, the Tennessean reports. The new tool enables consumers to view information on what different physicians bill for procedures within a certain specialty, as well as physicians' records on performing screenings, such as mammograms or tests for cervical cancer. The information is based on BCBS claims data, but physicians can add their own medical profile information that is not a part of the insurer's data. Paul Kulpa, program manager for consumer-directed health care products at BCBS, said 700 doctors added such data.

Critics are concerned that the BCBS Web tool and other similar Web sites could be used to steer patients to the least-costly physicians, who may not provide the highest-quality care. BCBS said it is providing the information to allow consumers to make informed decisions (Tennessean, 9/17).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

© 2008 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

• Additional
• References
• Citations