Parkinson, MD | How do you price a new kind of healthcare service?

By Dr. Jay Parkinson

MAY 1, 2017 – We all know how traditional healthcare pricing works. You pay your monthly health insurance premiums. Then, one day, you need a doctor so you pay your $40 co-pay to visit the urgent care center. A few weeks later, you get a bill from the urgent care center for $300. You haven’t spent your entire $2,000 deductible so the total out of pocket cost to you is $340.

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Here’s the psychology of that experience:

You’re in a pinch and you realize you’re going to have to spend some money. To make it financially bearable for most people, they only require you to pay $40 that day. They deliver their care and send you on your way. Then the doctor documents all she did for you and her billers code that interaction in a way that will maximize her revenue from your insurance company and you. This process takes a few weeks. When that process is done, you get the bills. Then you have 30 or 60 days or so to pay the doctor. Most doctors and hospitals now let you pay these online. This is the normal process everyone knows and the only thing surprising about this process is how high the bills can be.