Over four million Americans shopping for healthcare saving an average of $641 per shopped procedure with SmartShopper last year.
May 6, 2021 – LYNDHURST, NJ –Sapphire Digital, a leader in healthcare shopping, cost transparency, and incentivized healthcare steerage and selection, today released its 2021 SmartShopper Performance and Savings report. The annual report again reveals substantial savings achieved by plan sponsors when consumers shop for elective and non-emergent procedures and services. In 2020, Sapphire Digital’s SmartShopper solution generated more than $32.4 million in savings for plan sponsors and shared $4.5 million in cash incentives with consumers.
As the healthcare consumer has focused increasingly on digital-first experiences through the pandemic, healthcare shopping has become the backbone that enables selection and access to many of those care moments. Healthcare consumers have become clear about their expectation for tools and support to find the best health care at the right price. And the recent Transparency in Coverage regulations have reinforced the importance of transparent costs and value-based incentives by citing the SmartShopper Program as the example in their comments about the ruling. Our flexible transparency and engagement platform offers an omni-channel experience to drive healthcare consumer behavior cohesively aligning members, plan sponsor, and delivers on the promise of engagement.
“Americans are embracing healthcare shopping,” said Kyle Raffaniello, CEO of Sapphire Digital. “SmartShopper continues to be a powerful resource in helping households to shop for that care effectively. As this report indicates, we have saved $133 million for plan sponsors over the past 6 years. And with membership growing year over year and increasing focus of consumers on understanding and controlling healthcare costs we expect to help consumers and plan sponsors save significantly more in the coming years.”
Across the country, SmartShopper continues to prove that Americans are shopping for quality healthcare and will make value-based care decisions when they have the right tools and support to help them. Through our 2020 shopping data, we see that household healthcare shopping decisions on our platform are made 67% of the time by women in the household and 78% percent of those care selections were made with providers and facilities within 20 miles of the home. These buyers are motivated to make value-based decisions through incentives that over 50% of the time are under 50 dollars to drive an average claim savings of $641 for their plan sponsors. The shared savings model creates a win-win situation for our health plan partners and their members.
To realize these savings, consumers need help to navigate the system to find and schedule care at the best locations at an affordable price. By using our digital shopping and member engagement platform combined with our personalized concierge services, healthcare consumers shop and compare facilities and costs, and save money for themselves and their plan sponsors. When they receive care at a cost-effective location, consumers receive a cash reward as a share of the savings. And when they receive care at a cost-effective location, consumers receive a cash reward as a share of the savings. The average claims savings on a shopped procedure in 2020 was $641.
SmartShopper transforms the member experience by delivering a cohesive, personalized, and predictive engagement strategy to drive value-based care decisions. Consumers can shop for care including imaging services, lab work, specialty drugs, preventative screenings and outpatient surgeries. The price differentials on even in-network care vary substantially from one facility to the next. Therefore, it’s important for consumers to leverage digital shopping tools to find high value care.
Sample of Savings per Procedure
| Bariatric Surgery | $4,874 |
| Physical Therapy | $1,603 |
| Colonoscopy | $1,071 |
| Cardiology Procedure | $476 |
| Lab/Blood Work | $188 |
The pandemic delayed elective and non-emergent procedures which are now being scheduled increasing the importance of tools like SmartShopper that manage costs by driving the right behavior. Through this period, SmartShopper’s concierge service continues to play an important role helping consumers. With a 98% recommendation rate, our highly trusted personal assistants help members navigate the system, understand their options, and schedule procedures for them, to ensure they are able to access and receive the care they need.
About Sapphire Digital
apphire Digital empowers roughly 100 million healthcare shoppers to find and connect to the right healthcare at the right time and at the right place. By eliminating the complexity, our simple and intuitive shopping and navigation tools help customers select better, more affordable care. Our market-leading integrated incentive and engagement programs are proven to drive higher levels of activation by rewarding shoppers for making the best decision within their plan design.
For more information, please visit getsapphire.com or follow us on LinkedIn.