In January, Walecia Konrad of the New York Times ran an excellent Q&A piece providing a doctor's perspective on the consumer driven health movement.  The interview with Dr. Jeffrey Kullgren of U Penn Medical Center provides a valuable glimpse into how a physician sees the patient-doctor relationship when it comes to having price discussions.  Granted, Dr. Kullgren is an authority on consumer driven healthcare and likely more in tune with this issue than most physicians, but the physician angle is one that we don't hear enough of when it comes to this topic.

The Q&A is very tactical, with Kullgren giving excellent tips on initiating and guiding these discussions with your doctor.  Among other points, he notes that patients should recognize they are not the only ones who may feel ill-prepared to discuss costs with their doctors -- physicians have long been trained to focus on treatment and not cost.  As a patient, being prepared to direct the conversation in a useful direction may be necessary.  Also, be assertive when it comes to things such as having tests or diagnostics done per your doctor's request.  Pricing shopping for that test rather than simply going to the specialist your doctor suggests could end up saving you signficant money.

A great read, and we hope to print more from Dr. Kullgren in the future.

Tags: physician | price transparency | consumer driven health | health care prices

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