Quest Diagnostics Improves Quality while Managing Patient Costs

Marek Bako, Senior Director Revenue Cycle Management, and Kerri Grizer, Senior Product Manager, Optum. As a result of their growing responsibility for paying out-of-pocket for medical care, patients are increasingly leveraging the same consumer behaviors they employ when making other major purchase decisions, fueling the rise of consumerism in health care. As consumers, patients are demanding the same key capabilities from providers that they get in other industries: simplicity, convenience and transparency. Providers seeking to meet patient needs for managing their health care costs (e.g., balancing consumer-driven health plans and high deductibles) need to deliver consumer-centric tools that enable the ability to deliver accurate cost and quality information up front. Not only can these services deliver an improved patient financial experience, but providers can benefit from more efficient payment collections and more predictable cash flow. An example of where consumer engagement tools are providing value for both providers and patients is at Quest Diagnostics, a clinical laboratory services company that creates greater price transparency and ease of payment at the point of care while reducing patient bad debt and payment denials.