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Competition in Health Care

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Competition in Health Care
Competition in health care markets benefits consumers by reducing costs, reducing waste, improving quality, encouraging innovation, promoting growth and improving customer satisfaction (Glover and Rivers, 2008). Competition influences the direction of a company and will force a company to choose specific services, better pricing, and to demand quality products to retain the competitive edge for their patients.
Davenport and Harbage, 2009 published “Lack of competition in this critical marketplace means poor transparency and accountability, resulting in costly health care that harms our national health, bleeds our personal finances and the federal budget, and hinders our economic competitiveness. None of this is acceptable amid the worst slide in economic growth in 60 years (P. 1 Para. 1). Without competition there is little incentive to reduce profit or deliver a better quality service. Competition forces organizations to listen and comply with the needs of their patients.
The patient wants to know that the company they are doing business with is accountable for its choices. Patients have grown tired of hidden costs and are now demanding transparency in the health care field. Long gone are the days that physicians and hospitals named their price and sent a bill with no explanation of charges. Patients now shop around for their services to find the lowest price and the best service.
Competition should take place in all levels of business this not only allows businesses to specialize and refine what they do. This also allows people to receive a variety of services and lower pricing. Competition forces organizations to plan and evaluate their services to ensure their market segment needs are being met and evaluate the success of the services or products in place. This helps organizations connect to their local market segment by forcing them to communicate with their patients. Competition should improve the quality of products and the services

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