Researchers: Cost-Sharing Affects Patient Compliance

Authors of two academic studies have found evidence that tweaking patients’ out-of-pocket costs can affect the likelihood that they will follow physicians’ orders.

The researchers published the articles, which feature the Pitney Bowes Inc. benefit plan and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N.C., in Health Affairs, an academic journal that focuses on the delivery and financing of health care.

The researchers received grants from the California HealthCare Foundation, Oakland, Calif., which is backing studies that test the effectiveness of the “value-based insurance design” (VBID) concept.

VBID advocates recommend that insurers be more generous than usual when paying for preventive care that seems likely to reduce the overall cost of care.