More Consumers Find Transparency Tools Accessible, Useful in 2022

More consumers reported that their health plans are offering transparency tools and overall consumer awareness about the availability of transparency tools has grown, according to a study conducted on behalf of HealthSparq.

The survey covered slightly more than 1,000 participants in January 2022. Respondents lived across the US, although nearly four in ten were in the South (38 percent). Almost half of them were suburban residents (48 percent), three out of ten were urban (31 percent), and a fifth were rural (21 percent).

Most of the participants were in employer-sponsored health plans (59 percent), 16 percent were in self-purchased plans, and 15 percent were covered under Medicare or a Medicare Advantage plan. The remaining 10 percent were evenly split between Medicaid or state coverage and another government program or separate coverage source.

Unlike in previous years, most respondents stated that their health plans offered transparency tools (70 percent). 

In the three years prior to 2022, the year when transparency tools were reportedly the most prevalent was 2020, when 60 percent of respondents stated that their health plans had transparency tools. But that year nearly three in ten respondents did not know whether their health plans offered such resources.

In 2022, although nearly a quarter of respondents stated that they could not access transparency tools through their health plans, only eight percent were unsure.

This trend may indicate that awareness about healthcare transparency tools is growing among the consumer population, according to the researchers.

Moreover, 67 percent of those who did have access to transparency tools through their health insurers reported using the tools. And most participants found that the tools were useful for certain goals—91 percent said the tools helped them understand their coverage, 88 percent said the tools informed their decision-making, and 81 percent stated that the tools helped manage healthcare spending.

Most frequently, health plans offered transparency tools that helped members identify in-network providers, with 72 percent of respondents stating that this option was available to them through their health plans. 

Making provider search transparency tools available to members could be particularly important, since 26 percent of members stated that their health plan’s website or app was the first resource they visited to find a new provider. That was the most popular option, followed by asking a friend or family member (20 percent).

When searching for a provider, the top five qualities that were most important to consumers were in-network status, distance from home or work, length of experience, availability, and price.

The three types of information that were most useful to members as they sought out new providers were seeing patient reviews (71 percent), knowing the provider’s approach to patient care (56 percent), and learning about health outcomes of providers’ past patients (46 percent).

Additionally, 55 percent of respondents could access telehealth as a transparency tool, 53 percent could choose a provider online, and half of the respondents said that their health plans’ transparency tools helped with care navigation and cost estimates (50 percent respectively).

Other services that transparency tools addressed included assessing the status of a member’s deductible, reviewing providers and care sites, scheduling appointments online, and incentivizing cost-effective care.

Respondents were most likely to say that their health plans needed to make information easier to access (48 percent). 

Respondents also suggested that health plans should allow members to select their communication preferences. Two-thirds of the survey participants stated that they preferred email communication, 38 percent wanted their health plan to contact them by phone, and 37 percent preferred mail communications.

Consumers remain wary about trusting their health plans. Health plans received the lowest share of members expressing high or very high levels of trust (51 percent), only superseding the government (24 percent).

Payers have been implementing price transparency tools, not only in response to consumer preferences but also in light of previous legislation requiring greater price transparency which will go into effect on July 1, 2022.

Additionally, payers have designed provider recommendation tools to help health plans find providers more easily. However, payers still struggle to ensure that tools such as provider directories are accurate.