Dive Brief:
- A report by the Heartland Institute, a think tank that embraces free market principals, reported that Swedish Health Services cut outpatient service prices by 35% earlier this year. The cuts were applied to 90% of outpatient services provided at five hospitals, two ambulatory care centers, and 100 clinics in the Puget Sound area.
- The report claimed the cuts were because of competition, not the Affordable Care Act.
- Two bills passed last year in Washington that required providers to be more price-transparent.
Dive Insight:
There has been some resistance to price transparency, according to Nathan Benefield, vice president of policy analysis at the Commonwealth Foundation, but he told the Heartland Institute that other efforts, such as low-cost health clinics and cash-only providers are creating "healthcare alternatives and compete for patients with lower prices."
Dr. Ralph Pascualy, chief medical officer at the Swedish Medical Group told the Puget Sound Business Journal last year that the healthcare system has been reducing costs and improving efficiency by internal cost-cutting, layoffs and eliminating its home healthcare business.