Does Process and Information Visibility Help Increase Competition?

Forbes magazine recently wrote about the medical industry in “Cranking Up the Volume“. Presumably, higher “volume” means more visibility into the processes behind medicare, medical equipment, and diagnosis. My contention is that our medical costs will go down if we can increase competition. Competition usually comes into play when information becomes available- information about services, prices, and costs of providing services. A useful comparison dealing with understanding costs of providing services is in the auto sales area; a few years ago information about dealer costs and margins made available on the internet enabled competition by allowing buyers to shop around and better negotiate prices.

What do you think is the key to increasing competition, or being more competitive? Medical industry processes and information are complicated by the many parties involved including the government, corporations, lobbying groups, doctors, and patients- is increasing the visibility of the process and information a way to increase competition and drive down prices?

Don’t miss a post! Subscribe via EMAIL or RSS.