Costs of Care Working with The Doctor’s Channel and Amino to Bring Healthcare Cost Conversations into the Provider’s Office
Clinicians Can Now Access Continuing Medical Education Modules Around “Cost Conversations” and Promote Their Designation With Badges on Amino
*These modules were supported with the help from The ABIM Foundation
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — (February 15, 2018) — Costs of Care, a non-profit organization helping health systems deliver better care at lower cost, is collaborating with The Doctor’s Channel, dubbed by CNBC as the “educational YouTube for doctors,” and digital health company Amino to educate clinicians on how to discuss health care costs with their patients.
As part of the initiative, Costs of Care, with the help of the University of Chicago, is utilizing The Doctor’s Channel to distribute its new continuing medical education modules that train clinicians on ways to identify and manage patients’ cost concerns. Clinicians who complete the modules will then have the opportunity to share a “Cost Conversations” badge across their digital networks, as well as have their accreditation acknowledged on Amino, where cost-conscious patients can access physician profiles and view designations.
“Nearly everyone who receives healthcare in the United States is at risk of receiving care that is so expensive it threatens their financial security,” says Neel Shah, Founder and Executive Director of Costs of Care. He believes “improving affordability is essential to the well-being of our patients, and our cost conversation modules help clinicians help their patients tackle this complex issue.”
Costs of Care’s four free, web-based, CME-approved, 15-minute modules can be viewed on The Doctor’s Channel. The modules demonstrate common pitfalls, as well as practical solutions, in having cost conversations with patients and colleagues. Module topics include:
- First, Do No (Financial) Harm: Having Value Conversations with Patients
- GOTMeDS: Having Value Conversations with Patients about Medication Costs
- Costly Conversations: Having Value Conversations with Supervisors and Consultants
Hundreds of HCPs have completed the course to date and are immediately putting their learnings into practice.
“The day after completing this training, I asked one of my patients about the financial implications of his recent hospitalization. He said a bill for an amount he could likely never pay had just arrived in his mailbox many weeks after he was discharged. Although he recovered medically, the financial burden of his hospitalization persisted. These modules make a clear case that delivering high quality health care is much more than having a deep understanding of physiology and pharmacology; cost, and the financial harm it could cause, will certainly factor into future conversations with patients about their options,” said Dr. Marcus Dahlstrom, an internist in Oregon.
Costs of Care is also working with Amino to allow physicians to promote the completion of “Cost Conversations” modules with badges posted on Amino and viewable by consumers searching for care on Amino or through content and trusted partners across the web.
Costs of Care and Amino will be sharing more about their partnership in a webinar for the ABIM Foundation hosted on YouTube, as well as at SXSW Interactive Festival on March 11th, 2018 as part of the panel Making Healthcare Price Transparency Available. For more information about the modules, visit Costs of Care’s website.
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About Amino:
Amino is a digital health company that makes saving money on healthcare easy. Combining data, design, and consumer-first thinking, Amino offers information and services that guide people toward quality, affordable care. Its flagship product pairs transparency with a modern HSA to deliver smarter savings at every turn, so companies and employees get the most from their health insurance plans. The company is based in San Francisco and is backed by Accel, CRV, Highland Capital Management, Rock Health, and notable individual investors.
About Costs of Care:
Costs of Care is a nonprofit organization that curates insights from clinicians at the frontlines of health care to help health systems provide better care at lower cost. Connect at www.CostsOfCare.org or follow us on Twitter @CostsofCare.
About the Doctor’s Channel:
In an age of media snacking and limited attention spans, The Doctor’s Channel has been providing our network of physicians with timely, practical and “to the point” content in the form of educational, lifestyle and free CME videos since 2007. The Doctor’s Channel syndicates it’s content to HCPs globally. For more information, visit www.TheDoctorsChannel.com, contact Michael Banks, MD at mbanks@thedoctorschannel.com, or follow them on Twitter @doctorschannel