December 20, 2012 
trans·par·en·cy [trans-pair-uh n-see]
noun, plural trans·par·en·cies.
1. Also, trans·par·ence. the quality or state of being transparent.
2. something transparent, especially a picture, design, or the like on glass or some translucent substance, made visible by light shining through from behind.
3. Photography .
a. the proportion of the light that is passed through the emulsion on an area of a photographic image.
b. a photographic print on a clear base for viewing by transmitted light.
This is the dictionary.com definition of a term that gets thrown around in healthcare all the time. I’ve talked about transparency several times this year, and I expect a lot from companies like Change Healthcare in 2013.
That being said, I found an article in HealthLeaders in November 2012 very interesting. It referenced a study showing the answer to this question – “how will greater transparency on healthcare costs affect your organization’s cost of care”? I just assumed the answer would be that it would decrease costs. The data didn’t support that.
While 56% of health plans thought that transparency would decrease costs…
- Only 28% of hospitals thought it would decrease costs
- Only 26% of health systems thought it would decrease costs
- Only 14% of physicians thought it would decrease costs
Enabling Healthy Decisions 
More transparency means more bargaining chips for those who hold the purse. Also, more transparency will mean onerous administrative overhead for care providers because of the complexity of the service they deliver. I doubt many of them will want healthcare equivalent of Sarbanes Oxley.
Health plans on the other hand are well-equipped to deal with more ‘transparency’, because they are purely administrative organizations.