Easy-to-use resource includes new pricing and quality data, consumer-friendly terminology based on user feedback
Consumers shopping for health care in Indiana can now enjoy a new and improved website from the Indiana Hospital Association (IHA) to help them compare hospital charges and quality ratings.
IHA’s hospital pricing tool, careINsight, launched in January 2015 as a free resource to help Hoosiers better understand what goes into hospital billing and answer key questions before seeking treatment. Since its launch, IHA has reviewed feedback from the public and its 164 hospitals across the state to guide key updates newly made to the site.
"While the launch of our new online pricing tool was the first of its kind in Indiana available for anyone to use, we realized it was not a perfect solution," said Doug Leonard, president of the Indiana Hospital Association. "We continue to work to improve the site based on public feedback and to ensure it provides relevant information that helps patients make more fully informed decisions about their health care."
The website, available at mycareINsight.org, has been updated with newly released 2014 charge data from the Indiana State Department of Health as well as quality data from the federal government’s Hospital Compare website’s July 2015 release. In addition, IHA has added common language to careINsight based on user feedback. This includes simplifying the procedure names to help consumers better understand the medical terminology used within the site.
Since its launch, careINsight has seen a significant surge in traffic by Hoosier consumers. Approximately 20,000 users have visited mycareINsight.org since the site became live in January, resulting in nearly 24,000 total visits and 240,000 total page views. Of those users, approximately 80 percent were new and 20 percent were returning to the site. In addition, 76 percent of users traveled through the entire site, from the homepage all the way through to their search results.
"We believe the information on careINsight is critical to improving patient care. By making the quality ratings and hospital charges available, this leads to more informed patients and more confidence in the health care system. Because of this, we’ve worked hard to share this information with the communities we serve," said Melanie Powell, director of business development and marketing at Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center in Jasper.
The careINsight tool allows visitors to compare Indiana hospitals side-by-side based on quality data such as patient satisfaction, readmissions, early elective deliveries and infection rates. In addition, it includes a search engine to look up charges by location, hospital and/or procedure. Results will show a hospital-to-hospital quality comparison and links to hospital websites, information on financial assistance and additional consumer tips and education.
