Executive Summary |
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The eDocAmerica Cost Comparison Study is an
independent statistical produced by HISTECON Associates, Inc. a regional firm based in Little Rock, Arkansas. eDocAmerica is the nation’s largest third-party provider of physician-consumer online communication. In compliance with HIPAA Privacy Regulations, the study of the UofA claims data was accomplished with the de-identified data only. At no time was personally identifiable health information accessed. The research project was initiated to test the assumption that utilization of eDocAmerica’s services would lead to lower doctor and hospital costs and generally lower the health care costs of participating corporate clients. Although guidelines for physician-consumer e-mail have been published in recent years, there has been limited research to date measuring the impact on costs by online communication between the physician and consumer. In recognizing the need for better outcomes documentation on the relationship between online usage and health care costs, eDocAmerica contracted with HISTECON Associates, Inc. to develop baseline data and perform analysis on that data. With the cooperation of client University of Arkansas System (UA) and QualChoice of Arkansas, the third party administrator of the UA self-funded health plan, HISTECON analyzed the client’s historical claims data covering the two-year time period of January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2005. The claims data represented approximately 1.45 million paid claims for medical care and prescription drugs for more than 18,000 employees and dependents during this time period. |
The study analyzed and answered three primary research questions: First, is there a discernable difference in the paid claims records of those using eDocAmerica’s online services and those |
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who don’t; Second, what is the dollar and percentage savings experienced; Third, what level of participation would allow the online plan to pay for itself. The study concluded that there was a significant reduction in health care costs to the client when the eDocAmerica system was used by consumers. In particular, UA achieved claims savings of $355,400 that exceeded the cost of the program by more than $103,300 during the two-year period. Individual users of the eDocAmerica system experienced annual claims that averaged $89 less than non-users. These savings were achieved with only 16% of eligible employees using the eDocAmerica system, which infers that breakeven occurred when utilization hit 11%. |
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11719 Hinson Road, Suite 130 • Little Rock, Arkansas 72212 |
