In this episode of “For the Health of It,” host Lauren Stahl, Head of Sales, Komodo Health, spoke with Tejas Inamdar, Head of Strategic Partnerships, Turquoise Health, to discuss the critical issue of price transparency in healthcare. The partnership between Komodo and Turquoise aims to gain deeper insights into patient journeys and the comprehensive costs associated with healthcare encounters.

Tejas' extensive experience across various healthcare sectors led him to Turquoise Health, where he’s building consumer-friendly products to bridge the gap between telehealth and in-person care. In order to build truly consumer-friendly products, Tejas emphasized the need to address price transparency in the industry. 

Patients often struggle to obtain accurate price estimates for procedures due to the opacity surrounding healthcare pricing. A lack of accessible benchmark data and the retrospective nature of claims data only further exacerbate the problem. Many of the issues regarding price transparency stem from hidden negotiator rates that are closely guarded industry secrets. Insurance providers negotiate these prices independently, meaning HCPs don’t have visibility into the prices of the drugs they are prescribing. Although the rates are public, they are incredibly hard to access and interpret. Tejas compared these rates to “a public library with a secret entrance.” 

Patients are known to delay care because of the uncertainty surrounding the price of it. By making data accessible and comprehensible to the general population, patients will have an accurate view of the cost of their care before it's incurred. Transparency regulations such as the No Surprises Act, which protects consumers from facing unexpected medical bills, help combat hidden rates. However, accessing and interpreting the data remains a challenge. Turquoise has put its mission of eliminating financial complexity into action by aggregating rates and building consumer-friendly tools that make it easier to compare and analyze healthcare costs. This combats old-school ways of pricing, where data had gaps and patients were faced with unknown expenses when making healthcare decisions. 

Tejas hopes to see an emergence of a market-driven economy where supply and demand are able to correct pricing in healthcare. In order to do so, new tools must be introduced to break down data silos, democratize access to information and ensure all patients have access to the information they need to make critical healthcare decisions. Komodo is proud to support this journey to create a seamless experience and improve outcomes for all. 

For more information about the partnership between Turquoise Health and Komodo, .

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