By JOSEFINA JERVIS and MICHAEL TURPIN

As the digital economy transforms health the most transformative ideas and consumer engagement solutions can sometimes challenge the industry’s ability to adopt and implement them. Reimbursement reforms, risk sharing, migration towards high deductible plans and the expansion of public and private coverage are converging to unleash an increasingly sophisticated consumer into the marketplace. Health systems and physician practices are consolidating and marketing their services direct to consumers in an attempt to underscore the critical differentiators valued by consumers – access, quality and affordability.  In today’s consumer economy, access remains a critical criterion for choosing and patronizing a provider or a practice. To assist the move toward consumerism, employers are introducing tools to facilitate comparison-shopping for services seen as “consumer-driven.”  The cost of elective and non-emergency services are highly variable and employers want employees to become consumers making decisions based not only on access but also cost.Continue reading…