Do:
1. Expect tension between payers, providers and consumers. Cost transparency is a hot topic that has elicited many different responses and opinions which, while uncomfortable, can also be productive and drive change.
2. Expect to compromise in order to reach a mutual goal. Physicians and employers may have opposing views on what information is shared and how, but a win-win solution is still possible.
3. Demand a neutral source of data, such as a multi-stakeholder consortium with access to aggregated all-payer data and the technical expertise necessary to produce fair and unbiased analytics that can be agreed upon by everyone involved.
4. Recognize that purchasers, payers, providers and consumers all have different motivations for cost measurement. Taking into consideration user needs and different viewpoints is crucial for designing a transparency approach upon which everyone involved can agree.
5. Understand that payers and the public expect and prioritize quality performance. Be prepared to provide vetted and auditable records of quality performance with risk-adjusted data.
6. Measure and attribute patients in a way that is both understandable and useful to providers. It is important that methods of reporting are transparent and fully explained so everyone can work within their limitations.
7. Ask plans and carriers to use data and measures that everyone finds credible and valuable, ask carriers to adopt community-endorsed measures and ask local purchasers to drive strategic alignment and use publicly recorded data when designing payment incentives.
8. Identify measures and priorities as a community. That may mean picking a reasonable number of measures that reflect the various domains of interest of purchasers, payers, providers and consumers, including quality, safety, cost, patient experience and more.
9. Prepare for the increasing accountability that links payments to provider performance. Be proactive and brave and set goals for ensuring information that will be reported is reliable, credible and useful.
Don’t:
10. Move too quickly and rely on abbreviated processes which, albeit faster, may not entirely address concerns and priorities. Instead, manage expectations by setting a reasonable timeline, process and assigned roles for public reporting.
11. Expect measurements to solve every problem. There are many other factors that are necessary to driving transformation. For instance, many people will need data, education and technical assistance to understand and effectively use public reporting tools.
12. Assume stakeholders have the experience, training, time or resources to know when and how to use publicly reported quality and cost information. Change won’t happen overnight. Information is the necessary first step but the process still requires aligned strategies for payment, patient engagement, benefit design, culture and social needs.
13. Wait for perfect data, measures or methods; just get on with it. Transparency does not require perfect information or performance. Fairness and validity are imperative but there is no completely infallible methodology.
More articles on transparency:
AHA develops price transparency toolkit
Experts to weigh in on healthcare transparency, prices and quality
Two bills scrutinize healthcare spending transparency, interoperability
