Question

The article Hospitals and Airlines: What are the lessons? describes similarities between the hospital and airlines industries. What are some significant differences that may prevent or minimize some of the out- comes for hospitals that are suggested by that article?

Hospitals and Airlines: What Are the Lessons? A provocative article, "Could U.S. Hospitals Go the Way of U.S. Airlines?," raises important and troubling questions about the potential adverse consequences of down- sizing in the hospital sector. Altman and colleagues (2006) draw interesting parallels between the hospital and airlines industries, most notably through their historical lack of price transparency, limited competition, and cross-subsidies. With increased price transparency and competition from specialized low-cost airlines, the legacy airlines downsized, merged, cut unprofitable routes and capacity, and reined in wages and other costs. Despite these efforts, their financial state remains precarious. What might happen if the hospital industry faces similar pressures? There are already strong efforts to increase price transparency through posting of prices on the Internet and other mechanisms. (See Reinhardt (2006) for his description of hospital pricing as "chaos behind a veil of secrecy.") Specialized clinics, ambulatory surgery

Answer 1

There are historical lack of price transparency, limited competition and cross subsidies between hospitals and airlines..Due to high price, low profitable and capacity make the costs increased..

Similarities:

Specialized clinics, ambulatory surgery center's and other freestanding outpatient facilities having competition with the general hospital..Airlines also taking efforts same like hospital to increase the capacity, staff and the quality of care..

High - cost communities depend on medicare and Medicaid patient vulnerable for cross - subsidies if it is reduced.Due to tight government budget and cutbacks employer - provided insurance that prevent the out comes for hospitals even more dire..In ambulatory surgical center's, little effect on their outpatient surgical volume, less inpatient volume and low monopsony power cause for this low out comes for hospitals..