The Oklahoma City-based Surgery Center of Oklahoma's February deal with the Oklahoma County Budget Board to give public employees the option to seek healthcare at the surgery center under the county's self-funded health insurance program is on target for savings, according to a report from Watchdog.org.
The goal of the partnership was to reduce healthcare costs for the county's public employees. The county agreed to waive out-of-pocket costs on the health plan for any covered employees who chose to have surgery at the Surgery Center of Oklahoma, rather than going to the hospital.
According to the report, the 10 surgeries for which the deal is applicable have cost just $59,000 in total, approximately one-quarter of the potential hospital price tag. Each employee also avoided an average of $3,000 in out-of-pocket costs.
This free-market alternative to traditional pricing offered at the Surgery Center of Oklahoma offers an incentive for quality care, according to Don Herrick, fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis, quoted in another Watchdog.org report. "If more employers would reward employees for choosing a place like the Surgery Center of Oklahoma, within a short while other hospitals and providers would being to match the prices," he said.
Other healthcare experts have also given favorable reviews to the Surgery Center of Oklahoma's innovative pricing methods as they relate to value of care, according to Watchdog. Org. The policy vice president for the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, Jonathan Small, said he is encouraging Oklahoma's state government to consider creating a similar arrangement to that of Oklahoma County's with the ASC.
The goal of the partnership was to reduce healthcare costs for the county's public employees. The county agreed to waive out-of-pocket costs on the health plan for any covered employees who chose to have surgery at the Surgery Center of Oklahoma, rather than going to the hospital.
According to the report, the 10 surgeries for which the deal is applicable have cost just $59,000 in total, approximately one-quarter of the potential hospital price tag. Each employee also avoided an average of $3,000 in out-of-pocket costs.
This free-market alternative to traditional pricing offered at the Surgery Center of Oklahoma offers an incentive for quality care, according to Don Herrick, fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis, quoted in another Watchdog.org report. "If more employers would reward employees for choosing a place like the Surgery Center of Oklahoma, within a short while other hospitals and providers would being to match the prices," he said.
Other healthcare experts have also given favorable reviews to the Surgery Center of Oklahoma's innovative pricing methods as they relate to value of care, according to Watchdog. Org. The policy vice president for the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, Jonathan Small, said he is encouraging Oklahoma's state government to consider creating a similar arrangement to that of Oklahoma County's with the ASC.