Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Wisconsin (Anthem) announced today the expansion of its industry-leading transparency initiative to northcentral Wisconsin. Now, all members in Florence, Forest, Langlade, Lincoln, Marathon, Oneida, Portage, Vilas and Wood counties will be able to access Anthem Care Comparison, an online tool that provides information about the costs of 35 specific medical procedures performed at local area hospitals, outpatient surgery centers and free-standing radiology facilities. Members can also find cost and quality information on more than 160 inpatient procedures using the tool.
"No other transparency tool in the Wisconsin market today provides the depth of information on the total costs of procedures as Anthem Care Comparison," said Larry Schreiber, president of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Wisconsin. "Through this tool, our members have access to the costs associated with all aspects of a specific medical procedure - not just the cost of the procedure itself, but also the costs of the entire spectrum of care, from lab tests to recovery room charges. These medical care cost estimates will help our members better understand the overall costs they are likely to incur before a medical service is provided."
In addition, the cost information is facility specific, so members can compare the differences in cost among hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers and/or free standing imaging centers, and get information on how frequently facilities perform each procedure, which can assist the member in assessing the care they seek.
With the expansion of the online resource, individual and group members in northcentral Wisconsin join more than 24 million members nationwide, including those already using the tool in the Milwaukee and Green Bay areas.
"Ultimately, we want Anthem Care Comparison to create well-informed consumers of health care," said Dr. Michael Jaeger, Anthem's managing medical director. "Creating well-informed consumers, employers, physicians and hospital providers is an important element of transparency, and an essential step in transforming the consumers' role in their own health care."