Association of Reference Pricing for Diagnostic Laboratory Testing With Changes in Patient Choices, Prices, and Total Spending for Diagnostic Tests

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Prices for laboratory and other clinical services vary widely. Employers and insurers increasingly are adopting “reference pricing” policies to create incentives for patients to select lower-priced facilities. In this HCFO-funded study, the researchers measured the association between implementation of reference pricing and patient choice of laboratory, test prices, patient out-of-pocket spending, and insurer spending. The researchers found that when combined with access to price information, reference pricing was associated with patient choice of lower-cost laboratories and reductions in prices and payments by both employer and employees.

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