Kyle Margaret K, Ridley David B
Department of Strategic and International Management, London Business School, London, England, UK.
Health Aff (Millwood). 2007 Sep-Oct;26(5):1384-91. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.26.5.1384.
President Bush, the World Health Organization, and leading scholars have called for greater price transparency in health care. Prices are transparent when the buyer knows his or her price or knows prices paid by others, in advance. Transparent prices inform consumers of expected costs and reveal when sellers are charging high prices to poor people. Under some conditions, however, price transparency can increase prices paid by the poor, deter business entry in poor markets, reduce competition, lower investment, and mislead if inaccurately measured by a third party. We recommend alternative approaches to lowering prices for the poor and increasing efficiency.
布什总统、世界卫生组织以及顶尖学者都呼吁提高医疗保健领域的价格透明度。当购买者提前知晓自己所需支付的价格或他人所支付的价格时，价格便是透明的。透明的价格能让消费者了解预期成本，并揭示卖家何时向穷人收取高价。然而，在某些情况下，价格透明度可能会提高穷人的支付价格，阻碍企业进入贫困市场，减少竞争，降低投资，并且如果第三方测量不准确还会产生误导。我们建议采取其他方法来降低穷人的医疗价格并提高效率。
