Mary Hurley shops online for the best price for medical procedures offered at different hospitals around the Boston area. to receive a weekly digest of WBUR’s best health, medicine and science coverage.
When Hurley types her home address in Milton and hits search, she sees 14 hospitals ranked by price. Only two have green rewards buttons next to their names. The site tells Hurley that she will receive $50 if she gets a mammogram at Steward Norwood Hospital and $25 if she selects Beth Israel Deaconess Milton.“It's in my hometown, I know right where it is,” Hurley says. “And I just have stronger brand-name recognition with Beth Israel.
A mammogram at Dana Farber or Mass. General is four to five times more expensive than at Beth Israel Milton, which helps explain the reward. But Hurley’s sister had breast cancer, and she wants what she expects would be the best radiologist reading her test results. But based on this trial run, Hurley says she does not expect to become a frequent online health care shopper.
Hurley's response is fairly typical of patients offered the SmartShopper tool, says Dr. Ateev Mehrotra, a Harvard Medical School associate professor. His Mehrotra says he expects that number will grow. Here’s why:"We are desperate in the United States for ways to reduce health care spending," he says."It is not that the average American is getting more health care over the last decade. If anything, they’re getting less health care," Mehrotra says."So why is health care spending still increasing? It’s because prices are going up faster than inflation.