title: Overcoming information asymmetry in consumer-directed health plans.
abstract: Consumer-centric healthcare has been extolled as the centerpiece of a new model for managing both quality and price. However, information asymmetry in consumer-directed health plans (CDHPs) is a challenge that must be addressed. For CDHPs to work as intended and to gain acceptance, consumers need information regarding the quality and price of healthcare purchases. The federal government, particularly the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, could function as an official resource for information on performance and comparisons among facilities and providers. Because of workforce constraints among primary care physicians, a new group of healthcare professionals called "medical decision advisors" could be trained. Academic health centers would have to play a critical role in devising an appropriate curriculum, as well as designing a certification and credentialing process. However, with appropriate curricula and training, medical decision advisors could furnish information for consumers and aid in the complicated decisions they will face under CDHPs.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA. retchin@mcvh-vcu.edu
authors.forename: Sheldon M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Retchin
mesh_terms: D003256:Community Participation; D003479:Curriculum; D003657:Decision Making; D006264:Health Benefit Plans, Employee / Q000191:economics*; D005102:Health Expenditures / Q000639:trends*; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D017146:Models, Organizational; D011243:Preferred Provider Organizations / Q000191:economics; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D014481:United States