I read this article from the LA Times…it deals with Minute Clinics, price transparency and consumerism, and comes from California - which if we’re all to believe the rhetoric, is where all trends start.  So - that being said, this is kind of interesting. Thoughts/comments welcome.

DOCTOR’S LIST PUTS A PRICE ON CARE
By Lisa Girion, LA Times Staff […]

For the past several years, I’ve expressed my concern about the general drift in Massachusetts away from relatively inexpensive, perfectly good, but unbranded community health care, toward more expensive, not necessarily better, but wonderfully branded Academic Medical Center (AMC) care.  It’s no secret that people in Massachusetts use AMC providers far more often for routine care than […]

It’s that time of year again - the time when Harvard Pilgrim starts building its budget for the next calendar year.  As part of that process, we contemplate what we think we’ll end up negotiating out with our provider partners for rate increases for next year.  While some of these contracts are multi-year, most of […]