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Boston group soliciting essays on health costs

E-mail | Print | Comments () Posted by Gideon Gil September 8, 2010 05:23 PM

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By Liz Kowalczyk, Globe Staff

An organization started by a Boston doctor to lower the cost of medical care is holding an essay contest for patients, nurses, and doctors, and it has recruited some high-powered judges.

Costs of Care, a nonprofit group founded last year by Dr. Neel Shah, a resident at Brigham and Women's Hospital, plans to educate providers about the cost of tests and procedures as a way to lower those costs for patients.

The organization, which is just getting off the ground, is building an online clearinghouse of out-of-pocket costs patients can face in the emergency room, along with the risks and benefits of each aspect of care. The group also is creating an online tool for doctors and nurses to give them information about ER prices at the critical moments decisions are made.

To raise awareness of the issue, the group is holding an essay contest. Two $1,000 prizes will go to a patient and a provider with the best anecdotes that illustrate "the importance of cost awareness in health care," such as an instance when a provider or patient tried to find price information but could not. The contest is sponsored by Massachusetts insurers and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

The judges are Utah Governor Michael Leavitt, former US Secretary of Health and Human Services; Dr. Atul Gawande, a Brigham and Women's Hospital surgeon and New Yorker staff writer; Dr. Tim Johnson, chief medical correspondent of ABC News; Dr. Jeffrey Flier, dean of Harvard Medical School; and former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis.

More information can be found at http://costsofcare.org.

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About white coat notes

White Coat Notes covers the latest from the health care industry, hospitals, doctors offices, labs, insurers, and the corridors of government. Chelsea Conaboy previously covered health care for The Philadelphia Inquirer. Write her at cconaboy@boston.com. Follow her on Twitter: @cconaboy.

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