As healthcare costs continue to rise and remain unknown prior to service, patients are still left in the dark to know pricing or compare alternatives prior to getting their procedures. This patient trusted her provider and ended up with a medical bill described as “astronomical and nuts” by one. Medxoom’s technology platform provides much-needed pre-service comparison price and quality ratings for providers based on any plan’s historical network pricing data.
From NPR:
“Janet Winston, 56, who works at Humboldt State University, found out the dermatologist in her rural Northern California town was booked months in advance. So, as Winston often does for specialized treatment, she turned to Stanford Health Care, a nearly six-hour drive south. She hoped to finally clear up her rash and learn what else she might be allergic to.
…
Her Stanford-affiliated doctor had warned her that the extensive allergy skin-patch testing she needed might be expensive, Winston said, but she wasn’t too worried. After all, Stanford was an in-network provider for her insurer — and her insurance, one of her benefits as an employee of the state of California, always had been reliable.
Then the bill came.“