Price/Quality Transparency & Member Engagement

On this week's show, hosts Ron Bachman and Doug Field talk with special guests from HealthEngine and Colibrium.

The first guest is Jonathan Weiss, the founder and CEO of HealthEngine. Today, we’ll talk about how to turn the myth of health care consumerism into reality. Consumers need effective tools in order to be savvy health care consumers, and they need to work in partnership with their physicians since the patient/doctor relationship is sacred. HealthEngine offers such a solution. The HealthEngine Marketplace Platform – available to consumers, employers, physicians and facilities at no charge – gives consumers access to quality and pricing information for 1.2 million health care providers in the U.S. In this interview, Jonathan and the hosts discuss how to empower physicians with tools to enable consumers to access and choose high-quality care at a lower cost.

The second guest is Mark Poling, co-founder and CEO of Colibrium, a company that delivers integrated software solutions designed specifically for the health insurance industry. Historically health insurers built relationships with their brokers, depending on them to build relationships with their members. Once a member, the health insurer managed the member’s claims. Many health insurers only interact with five to 10 percent of their members beyond required regulatory communications, while potentially having the most powerful information about a person, their health and well-being. Health insurers have the data and knowledge to build deep and trusted relationships with their members, but struggle with where and how to start. In this segment, Mark and the hosts discuss the importance of knowing your consumers in today’s consumer-driven environment.