Comments on: Kaiser's high deductible plan– consumerism has not yet reached the doctor's office http://blog.consumerfocusedhealth.com/2007/09/kaisers-high-deductible-plan-consumerism-has-not-yet-reached-the-doctors-office/ Changing Medicine, Technology, and Business in the Shift to Consumer-Focused Health Fri, 25 Jun 2010 13:39:51 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Vijay Goel, M.D. http://blog.consumerfocusedhealth.com/2007/09/kaisers-high-deductible-plan-consumerism-has-not-yet-reached-the-doctors-office/comment-page-1/#comment-52 Vijay Goel, M.D. Mon, 19 Nov 2007 20:45:00 +0000 http://consumerfocusedhealth.com/blog/2007/09/kaisers-high-deductible-plan-consumerism-has-not-yet-reached-the-doctors-office/#comment-52 Good question-- I had that concern before I used the services as well. On a cash basis, visits to Kaiser ended up being pretty cheap. They don't have the appropriate mindset or internal accounting structure to charge market prices, and consumerism is a pretty small part of what they do. <br/><br/>Visits range between $30 and $60 for primary care from what I've been told. <br/><br/>The flip side is that I got about 7 minutes with the doc for a physical and he was clearly on autopilot. So the incentives for them are volume, volume, volume. If you want personal interaction, they may underdeliver rather than overcharge, based on my visit (I'm a physician so I don't care as much). Good question– I had that concern before I used the services as well. On a cash basis, visits to Kaiser ended up being pretty cheap. They don’t have the appropriate mindset or internal accounting structure to charge market prices, and consumerism is a pretty small part of what they do.

Visits range between $30 and $60 for primary care from what I’ve been told.

The flip side is that I got about 7 minutes with the doc for a physical and he was clearly on autopilot. So the incentives for them are volume, volume, volume. If you want personal interaction, they may underdeliver rather than overcharge, based on my visit (I’m a physician so I don’t care as much).

]]> By: Anonymous http://blog.consumerfocusedhealth.com/2007/09/kaisers-high-deductible-plan-consumerism-has-not-yet-reached-the-doctors-office/comment-page-1/#comment-51 Anonymous Mon, 19 Nov 2007 20:12:00 +0000 http://consumerfocusedhealth.com/blog/2007/09/kaisers-high-deductible-plan-consumerism-has-not-yet-reached-the-doctors-office/#comment-51 I am considering a Kaiser high deductible plan right now. One concern of mine, which you may have an opinion on, is given that Kaiser is both the payer and recipient of fees charged for medical services, it seems that particularly Before the deductible is reached, Kaiser has an incentive to overcharge (and certainly not economize) on patient charges. Have you experienced or heard anything on this? Your thoughts? I am considering a Kaiser high deductible plan right now. One concern of mine, which you may have an opinion on, is given that Kaiser is both the payer and recipient of fees charged for medical services, it seems that particularly Before the deductible is reached, Kaiser has an incentive to overcharge (and certainly not economize) on patient charges. Have you experienced or heard anything on this? Your thoughts?

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