Americans today can shop for a new TV by spending an hour online pulling up ads to compare prices and reading reviews to compare features and performance.

Dr. Daniel DeBehnke, the chief executive officer of Nebraska Medicine, said Thursday that those same Americans, driven by rising health care costs and market changes that have left them paying a greater share of their health care costs, are beginning to shop for elective health care services such as colonoscopies and knee replacements with the same eye toward value and quality.

To give them more of that data, Nebraska Medicine this summer plans to launch a star-based online rating system for its physicians that will incorporate patient ratings and reviews. Services such as Healthgrades and Yelp already provide some ratings, but many are based on a limited number of reviews.

DeBehnke, speaking at a forum on the future of health care at the Omaha Press Club, said health care providers need to focus on such changes or disruptions in the market, including new technologies and care delivery models, rather than becoming distracted by events in Washington, including debate about the repeal or replacement of the Affordable Care Act.

The disrupters are forming the market around us, he said. Until we change the system so it provides value to the consumer ... were going to miss the boat.

DeBehnke, who took over Nebraska Medicines top post in July, said other industries have missed disruptions in their own sectors. Blockbuster continued to compare itself with other brick-and-mortar movie retailers while online streaming services such as Netflix were on the rise.

The fact that the United States spends 16 percent of its GDP on health care and still doesnt have the best life expectancies helped drive the creation of the health care law. While it has flaws and needs tweaks, DeBehnke said, it has achieved its goal of increasing the number of people with insurance coverage.

At this point, he said, repealing the law without replacing it would be socially and politically untenable. I would go out on a limb and say it wont happen, he said.

Meantime, he said, some provisions of the law have resulted in shifting a greater share of costs to consumers. Some 39 percent of plans on the exchanges had deductibles of $6,000 or more. Thats spurred a need for greater data transparency. Shopping services such as Castlight and Healthcare Bluebook allow consumers to shop online for services and prices.

Virtual care services and retail clinics, from kiosks in stores to the Minute Clinics inside CVS drugstores, are providing consultations and minor medical care, he said. Walmart has even rolled out primary care clinics in some states.

One concern for health care providers about such outlets is fragmentation of patient information. A patients regular primary care doctor wouldnt necessarily know that a patient had received a new prescription. Common electronic medical records systems and data-sharing agreements may offer opportunities to partner with such services.

DeBehnke said Nebraska Medicine also is beginning to explore online appointment booking for its patients. DeBehnke previously served as CEO of Medical College Physicians, a group of about 1,500 practitioners in the Milwaukee area. That system rolled out a similar online appointment system.

julie.anderson@owh.com; 402-444-1066

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Nebraska Medicine CEO talks about the future of health care - Omaha World-Herald