As healthcare becomes increasingly focused on evidence-based medicine and patient satisfaction, new firms are cropping up that help patients shop for medical services online. One of them is Spreemo, a start-up that's taking the idea to the workers' compensation market, specifically for radiology services.
"Workers' compensation injuries result in millions of MRIs and other diagnostic tests each year," CEO Ron Vianu told AuntMinnie.com. "By offering an online platform to employers to connect directly with imaging providers, efficiency is improved, patient care is better, and costs are reduced."
Spreemo CEO Ron Vianu.How does Spreemo work? Larger, more-established companies rely on traditional phone and fax methods of managing referrals, which is both costly and unreliable, according to Vianu. Also, these networks manage the payments between payors and providers, so their priority is to route injured workers to the lowest-cost medical provider to increase their own margins -- which may not always be best for the patient.
Spreemo hopes to change this model with a cloud-based service that offers employers and their workers' compensation insurers tools to easily refer and schedule patients and securely share data.
"We felt that we could provide some transparency in the marketplace," Vianu said. "Employers have not traditionally been informed healthcare consumers."
Imaging providers can join Spreemo's network at no cost. The company uses an algorithm to grade providers on a five-point scale, based on factors such as their interpretative accuracy, whether they have specialty training, the type of equipment they operate, and scheduling and report turnaround performance. Spreemo then matches radiology referrals based on provider quality and cost, the location of the injured worker, and turnaround time. Referrals are routed to the appropriate provider for scheduling.
The company launched initially in New York state, but it has now added providers in New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Florida to its network; California will be added next year. In the pipeline are Georgia, Illinois, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, Alabama, Louisiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee, Vianu said.
In October, Spreemo hired Dr. Richard Herzog from the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City to develop quality measurements that can inform decisions about the medical care patients receive and help evaluate radiology providers.
It can be challenging for employers to differentiate between centers or providers, according to Vianu.
"Companies want to invest in better care because they want their employees back at work sooner," he told AuntMinnie.com. "They want to determine quality in imaging, not just price."
Spreemo's clients don't just use the service for injured employees, they also use it for the much larger population: workers who need imaging as part of their regular healthcare.
"As radiology becomes commoditized and as prices are made plain, it's hard to figure out why it makes sense to spend the extra $50 at one center over another," Vianu said. "And this is a problem that shouldn't exist -- there should be a way to value shop in healthcare in any area."
