| Great-West Healthcare, now part of CIGNA. |
Volume 23 |
|
| Driver’s Seat |
It’s Your Health.
Stay in the Driver’s Seat.® |
|
|
Know Before You Go |
As the old saying goes, “Knowledge
is power.” And by doing a bit of fast and easy homework, you
can have the knowledge to make better-informed treatment decisions
– decisions that can help ensure quality and possibly help
you save money in out-of-pocket costs. This issue of Driver’s
Seat focuses on resources you can use to help make decisions
about treatments you may be facing
now or in the future.
When It’s Not An Emergency
Most surgeries aren’t emergencies. This means you have time
to learn about your procedure to be sure it’s the best treatment
for you and to find out what out-of-pocket costs you may be facing.
The Treatment Navigator tool at MyGreatWest.com
can help you understand important details about your care, including
treatment options and the most typical, cost-effective place to
have your procedure – whether that’s your doctor’s
office, an outpatient center or a hospital.
Treatment Navigator gives estimated out-of-pocket
costs for you and covered family members based on your Great-West
Healthcare, now part of CIGNA, benefit plan and the specific physicians and facilities
you choose. Simply download a form specific to your procedure and complete it
with the help of your doctor. Then return to Treatment
Navigator to enter the information from the form.
Within three business days you receive a cost estimate posted to
your MyGreatWest.com inbox. Register and sign in to MyGreatWest.com
to access Treatment Navigator from the
home page or Tools tab.
Questions to Ask Your Doctor
In addition to helping you learn the cost of care before you receive the services, Treatment Navigator guides you through questions you can ask to help you get the best value and treatment
| • |
What procedure are you recommending? |
| • |
Are there alternatives to surgery? |
| • |
What are the benefits and risks
of having the procedure? |
| • |
What is your training and experience
in this kind of surgery? |
| • |
Where will the operation be done? |
| • |
Will I have to stay overnight
in the hospital? |
| • |
How much will the operation cost? |
| Decision-Making, Money-Saving
Help at Your Fingertips |
Before making treatment decisions,
use the provider search tool on MyGreatWest.com
to be sure your physician and the facility are in network.
Selecting in-network providers can help you save on
out-of-pocket costs.
The success rates for many procedures are available
for a variety of hospitals using the Compare
Hospital Quality tool on MyGreatWest.com. |
|
|
Did You Know? |
| Every year, more than 15
million Americans have surgery1 |
|
| Using a surgeon or hospital
that does more of a particular type of surgery can improve
your chances of a good result2 |
|
| One study found that the cost of
the same surgery can vary by about 39% from surgeon
to surgeon3 |
|
| 60% of doctors think
health plans are the best source for data on physician prices4 |
|
|
1 “Having Surgery?
What You Need to Know,” Agency for Healthcare Research and
Quality, www.ahrq.gov
2 Ibid
3 “Evaluating Individual Surgeons Based on Total Hospital
Costs,” the American College of Surgeons, 2006
4 “Study Finds Consumers are Taking More Responsibility
for Health-Care Decisions, and Physicians Face Increasing
Competition,” Booze Allen Hamilton, April, 2007 |
Take Our Quiz |
| 1. Health care “transparency” means: |
|
| A. |
The hospital
will give you a copy of your health care bill |
| B. |
Treatment
costs and provider quality data are available to you
before receiving treatment |
|
|
2. Hospitals that perform certain procedures
more often usually have better outcomes for those procedures. |
|
3. For every dollar spent on health care services
in the U.S., patients pay an average of how much out of their pockets? |
|
Answers: 1. B. 2. A. True, 3. B. 10 Cents |
| Source: “The Market for Medical
Care: Why You Don’t Know the Price, Why You Don’t Know
About Quality, and What Can Be Done About It.” National Center
for Policy Analysis, March 2007 |
Legal disclosures
M4931 (Rev. 9/08) Vol. 23 © Copyright 2008 CIGNA. |