Click Here to Put a Colonoscopy in Your Basket? Carol Launches Controversial Healthcare Shopping Site
The list of items consumers can buy over the internet just got longer thanks to a new web portal called Carol.
Carol’s innovative site, dubbed The Care Marketplace™, offers patients the opportunity to shop, compare prices, and schedule medical services online in the same way they would purchase clothing or any other retail good.
Rather than searching through long listings of doctors and hospitals, healthcare consumers click on parts of the body shown on a graphic and then choose the type of appointment they’re looking for. Instantly Carol provides them a list of available services, their cost, and an opportunity to schedule an appointment.
After hearing the service mentioned in research for a different article, I made a quick visit to The Care Marketplace™ operated by Carol. In less than five minutes, I located an abdominal CT scan for $400, a prostate cancer evaluation for $493, suture removal for $59 and a diabetes prevention class for $15.
The site’s interactive tools let me see detailed side-by-side comparisons of similar appointments offered at different prices, but some services I spot-checked only offered one option — a limitation Carol’s creators expect will correct itself as doctor participation increases.
About 30 healthcare institutions in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, including Park Nicollet Clinic with almost 700 doctors, currently participate in Carol and the company has plans to branch out to another US market later this year. The service is free for patients and visitors can view the site without registering or providing personal information.
While experts seem to agree the site is convenient, their reactions to its mission are mixed. As the opinions below illustrate, some believe Carol is just a savvy new form of advertising for HMOs and medical professionals while others consider it an innovation that will empower patients to make smarter healthcare choices.
“We want to let consumers define value. We don’t have care competition in the marketplace today.”
Tony Miller
Chief Executive Officer, Carol
“Among physicians, there’s a belief that health care is too critical…to be left to the usual marketplace.”
Controversial or not, analysts say sites such as Carol which make medical costs more transparent to the patient could catch on, especially with people having high-deductible plans, employer-based health savings accounts or no health insurance because calculating out-of-pocket expenses is a bigger concern for those individuals.
Source: Associated Press article from CNN
Related Links: TODAY; Minnesota Public Radio (MPR); Star Tribune
Related Video: Real People DENIED Real Healthcare: David Welch RN on YouTube
Related Podcast: Will Carol.com revolutionize health care? from MPR
Technorati Tags: cancer treatments; oncology; radiology; cancer diagnosis; Twin Cities; Minnesota; Definity Health; UnitedHealth Group
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