Lasting Lessons From Health Care ’s ‘Money Back Guarantee’ Experiment

Ceci Connolly Matt DoBias By CECI CONNOLLY and MATT DOBIAS When it comes to money back guarantees in health care, it’s often less about the money and more about the guarantee. That’s the biggest takeaway shared by two organizations—Geisinger Health System and Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin (GHCSCW)—that separately rolled out closely-watched campaigns to refund patients their out-of-pocket costs for health care experiences that fell short of expectations. Both programs started as a way to inject a basic level of consumerism into a process long bereft of one. In fact, as consumer frustration over medical costs rise, a money back guarantee has the potential to win back a dissatisfied public. But like many experiments in health care, the effort produced some unexpected results as well. Instead of a rush on refunds, executives from both systems said their money-back pledge served even better as a continuous-improvement tool, with patients providing almost instantaneous feedback to staff who felt newly empowered to address problems. Call it a welcomed surprise for executives who saw the value in providing a guarantee between patients and the clinicians who treat them, and medical and legal staff who were at first leery of the idea before gradually warming to it. “People just want an avenue to give us advice,” said Allan Wearing, chief insurance services officer at GHCSCW. “What members want is an ability to tell you ...
Source: The Health Care Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Economics Health Policy Ceci Connolly Geisinger Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin Health Plans Matt DoBias money back guarantee Source Type: blogs