Merge
With solutions that have been used by providers for more than 25 years, Merge Healthcare, now part of IBM Watson Health, is a leading provider of medical imaging and information management software and services Watson Health provides innovative imaging solutions to improve the healthcare experience for patients and providers, including full solution suites for specialties such as radiology, cardiology, orthopedics and enterprise systems to create image and data interoperability merge
We’re a fast-growing company in an even faster-growing healthcare market. As a leading provider of enterprise imaging solutions, we provide solutions that facilitate the sharing of images to create a more effective and efficient electronic healthcare experience for patients and physicians. And we want YOU to be a part of our dynamic team.
At Merge, we hire the best people and are committed to their professional growth. We provide a supportive environment and foundation on which to build your career, and believe in providing opportunities for you to cultivate your expertise, challenge yourself and reach your fullest potential.
IBM Watson Health is committed to building smarter health ecosystems. This means simpler processes, better care, faster breakthroughs, and improved experiences for people around the world. We have the essential capabilities necessary to help our clients drive their digital transformations: deep industry expertise, data and analytics, and actionable insights—underpinned by security and trust.
Our solutions are designed to augment human expertise and improve clinical and operational workflows, allowing our clients to focus on what they do best. Watson Health harnesses the power of IBM’s innovative technologies and global reach, along with the data, solutions, and expertise of specialized health companies.
Financial pressures are putting healthcare prices under the microscope. For healthcare providers, data-driven insights about consumer opinions and behaviors can help shape better pricing strategies for their markets.
An IBM Watson Health PULSE Health Poll1 recently asked 3,000 U.S. healthcare consumers about their thoughts on price sensitivity. We asked respondents to think about how much out-of-pocket savings they would need to have before they would switch to a different facility or healthcare provider for non-emergency services. They were asked to assume that both quality and convenience are comparable to what they currently use.
A few of my observations about the full results include:
- Overall, approximately two out of three people would switch healthcare providers to save money. We asked about three different types of services with different out-of-pocket costs: lab work ($200), imaging procedure ($1,000) and elective surgery ($2,500). What I find interesting is that $150 appears to be the cost savings that will motivate the greatest number of consumers to shop whether for lab work with a $200 co-pay or for an imaging procedure with a $1000 co-pay.
- Millennials, GenXers and Baby Boomers are more likely to change providers than other age groups. For example, 27.6% of Millennials would switch for a savings of $100 – $150 as would 25% of GenXers. Given that Millennials and GenXers increasingly make up the largest portion of the commercially insured population, it is important for providers to understand this price sensitivity. Understanding the price points at which Baby Boomers would switch, for example, they are most likely to switch at price points higher than $500 for elective surgery, is important information for providers who are starting Medicare Advantage programs.
- The rate of people who would switch healthcare providers tends to increase with both increasing levels of income and education. For example, when asking about elective surgery, 81% of people who make $100,000 or more per year would switch providers for any cost savings, compared with 53% of people with an annual income of $25,000 or less. And 71% of people with a college degree or more would switch to save money, compared with 52% of people with a high school degree or less. This is a little counter-intuitive because we typically assume that higher-income populations would be less price-sensitive than lower-income populations.
- Older, less educated and lower-income respondents are more likely to delay treatment. The survey found that 21.7% of adults aged 65+ would not get a service with an out-of-pocket cost of $200 or more. And 26% of respondents with a high school education or less would also delay no matter what cost savings were offered. Lab work can play an important role in managing chronic conditions and providers who are taking risk for these populations must understand this healthcare avoidance behavior.
