For the vast majority of my career in HR I've skirted around benefits and total rewards; I've been the onsite HR Generalist that got to play "expert" during annual enrollment, I've been the guy talking about insurance and explaining why "No, we don't offer orthodontia coverage" during new employee orientation, and I've been an end-user of this benefit and that, but it's only been in the last several years of being part of a total rewards function (heck, total rewards is even in my title) that I've really started to pay attention to both the big details and the small. One of those details that gets discussed a lot in my office and I'm venturing just as much in other benefits offices in organizations big and small are the topics of health care costs and transparency tools.

There are medical plan administrators that offer versions of these tools and there are major market players like Castlight and Healthcare Bluebook - both outstanding tools that I've had the opportunity to see demonstrated live - but either/or can be costly depending on your organization's need, demand, and budget. That's where Guroo might be the right tool at the right time (or at least the tool to help an organization fill the critical gap related to understanding health care costs until it best understands its needs and how to meet them).

Where as sites like Castlight, Healthcare Bluebook, or administrator sites are great resources in terms of information, they're also for profit organizations that aren't always scalable to every kind of organization; Guroo on the other hand is an offshoot of Health Care Cost Institute (a non-profit), Guroo puts their goal as this:

Guroo.com was created by the Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI), an independent, nonprofit research organization. Guroo is powered by claims data contributed by some of the nation's key health insurance providers. We have one simple goal: to give you insight into health care costs and quality so you can be informed and get the most out of every dollar you spend.

Not only is Guroo a free resource, but it is an easy to use one - think Google for medical procedures.


Whether you are a consumer trying to manage your medical costs wisely, a growing (or new) organization that is struggling to find a way to assist your employees understand how to be effective stewards of their own health and wellness, or a larger/more established organization working to find the right set of tools to meet the ever growing challenges (and costs) of health care, Guroo might be the right tool at the right time to help you take a step in the right direction.

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