Medtronic suggested the managed-care provider combine its network of doctors with Definity's personal-care accounts.
At Definity's Web site members can check their account balances, view claim transactions and compare prices.
To date, Definity has signed up 18, 000 employees (42, 000 members including dependents), up from 2, 500 employees in 2001.
At Budget, which has signed with Definity, employees have their own web page for managing their health-care account.
Since January 2001, 85% of the 800 employees who get their health coverage at Ridgeview have signed on with Definity.
SeeChange is a next generation Definity Health. (Psilos was an investor in Definity, which is now part of UnitedHealth Group).
In the past few years a handful of firms, such as Definity, Lumenos and HealthMarket, have sprung up to serve this market.
They also have access to Definity's database of 800, 000 doctors, showing the price per visit and some rough measures of hospital performance.
Medtronic didn't appreciate the HMO's intransigence and ended up offering Definity's plan to 75% of its 20, 000 employees (so far, 16% have enrolled).
Like HMOs, Definity lands discount deals with providers, including Beech Street and Private Healthcare Systems (which have combined networks of 400, 000 doctors and 3, 500 hospitals).
As Tony Miller, Definity's boss, points out, price transparency not only helps consumers manage their resources, but also promotes competition among doctors participating in the network.
His people are four times more likely to rely on Definity's nurse phone line to inquire about treatments before going to the doctor than they were under traditional plans.
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