Website SmartShopper lists hospitals and their prices for various services. Hospitals with green rewards buttons learn shoppers anywhere from $25 to $500 cash back depending on the procedures they select.
One patient, Mary Hurley, was using the site to shop for a mammogram. When she searched for hospitals in Milton, Mass., she was prompted with a list of 14 hospitals ranked by price. Two hospitals on the list would give her cash back.
If she visited Steward Norwood Hospital she would earn $50, but if she visited Beth Israel Deaconess Milton she would receive $25, according to the report.
Familiar with Beth Israel, Ms. Hurley was not sold on visiting Norwood Hospital, even though it offered more cash back. Any incentive may not have been enough for Ms. Hurley, who has generous insurance and can visit top cancer hospitals or Boston-based Massachusetts General Hospital and pay a $25 copay.
Harvard only pays SmartShopper when employees use the website. Currently, about 250,000 Massachusetts residents have access to SmartShopper through their health plans, according to WBUR.
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