Challenge: Build a Better Medical Bill

By Kelly A. Briganti, Editorial Director, G2 Intelligence

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in collaboration with AARP, is challenging health care organizations to design a better, more patient-friendly, medical bill and billing process. The HHS press release regarding the challenge notes “[p]eople who use health care in the U.S. today can often receive bills from multiple hospitals, doctors, labs or specialists for the same episode of care that vary in content, presentation and use of health industry jargon. Because of this, it can be difficult for patients to understand what they owe, what their insurance plan covers, and whether the bills are correct or complete.”

Winners of the A Bill You Can Understand initiative will be spotlighted at the Health 2.0 Annual Fall Conference and online at the challenge website and the winning designs will be used by several “pilot partner” health care organizations, including Geisinger Health System, University of Utah Health Care and Cambia Health Solutions. Awards will be granted to one winner for the best medical bill design that is “easiest to understand” and another award will be granted to the applicant that “designs the best transformational approach to improve the medical billing system, focusing on what the patient sees and does throughout the process.” Each winner receives a $5,000 prize. Criteria explained on the challenge website include understandability, creativity, uniqueness, use of plain language and most appropriate use of information and data.

Submissions are due by Aug. 10, 2016, and winners will be announced in September. The May 26, 2016 issue of National Intelligence Report provides further detail regarding the challenge and insight regarding problems with current medical bills and processes, revealed in a research report prepared by Mad*Pow, a design agency administering the challenge.

HHS and AARP are holding an informational webinar regarding the challenge on June 6, 2016, 1-2 p.m. EST. For more information, see the challenge website at www.abillyoucanunderstand.com/