title: Economic factors converge: force hospitals to review pricing strategies.
abstract: The US hospital service price structures are complex and tend to be significantly higher than the actual cost to provide the service. Health care consumers have been given more authority to drive health care decisions. Transparency in health care is forcing hospitals to critically review and substantiate service prices. It is vital that US hospitals review their pricing strategies in order to continue as strong leaders in the health care market.
authors.forename: Sandra J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Winterhalter
mesh_terms: D022126:Access to Information / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D004465:Economic Competition / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D017722:Hospital Charges / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D006278:Medicare / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000639:trends; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D012051:Reimbursement Mechanisms / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000639:trends; D014481:United States