The charge master is a list of all services that are provided by a given hospital. In many states, the charge master is made public but not in machine-readable formats. The charge master is also the starting point for negotiating prices. One thing that could really make a huge difference in terms of making the market function more like it should be is for hospitals to have standard codes for every procedure and supply.
Physician and author Vivian Lee talks about her book The Long Fix with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Lee argues that we can transform health care in the United States, though it may take a while. She argues that the current fee-for-service system incentivizes doctors to provide services rather than keep patients healthy and that these are not the same thing. Topics explored include innovations in Medicare and in technology that might change treatment incentives as well as the weird world of health care pricing.