New HCFO Grant Examines Decision-Support Tools

New HCFO Grant Examines Decision Support Tools

Title: The Impact of Consumer Health Plan Decision-Support Tools on Health Plan Choice and Quality   
Institution: University of Minnesota   
Principal Investigator: Jean Marie Abraham, Ph.D.   
Grant Duration: January, 2006 - April, 2007   
Awarded:  $137,818.00 
E-mail:  abah042@umn.edu 

The researchers will examine the use of decision-support tools designed to inform consumers' health plan selections. Concerns about the capacity of consumers to understand the financial implications of an array of complicated plan designs have spawned the development of decision-support tools to assist consumers as they evaluate their health plan options. In March of 2006, Ingenix will release its Plan Cost Estimator (PCE) which tracks individual employees use of care and incorporates prior claims experiences into the algorithm for producing cost estimates. Using this decision-support tool, the researchers will investigate 1) the factors associated with employers' decision to provide the tool for its workers during open enrollment; 2) the demographic, health status, and job-related factors associated with a worker's use of the PCE tool; 3) the capacity of the decision-support tool to directly influence a worker's choice of health plan; and 4) the association between low-cost plan choices and quality and the expected quality change as a result of tool use. The objective of this study is to identify important managerial lessons for employers relative to employee health plan enrollment choices. 
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