Web Sellers Using Your Inforamtion To Personalize Price

Orbitz, the travel website, offers slightly different prices to customers who are shopping through its app or a computer, and even between two different users on the same platform. Some of this may be due to experimentation and testing, but it’s also a sign that web retailers are using technology to try to offer personalized pricing — a practice some might consider a form of price profiling. The goal of this practice is to try to identify an individual’s willingness to pay and adjust the price upward or downward to maximize profits. It’s something shoppers should be aware of as more purchases are made online. (article by HBR, Oct 20, 2017, by Rafi Mohammed).

One wonders if that in theory has been happening in healthcare? Industry folks with savvy know that if life is at stake almost anyone will pay whatever the price. They also know that volume, who, what, when and where also plays a part. So, one may argue that if the healthcare market would be left to the forces of supply and demand, the market would react in a rational manner. Do you think Mr. Trump's recent executive order allowing healthcare purchasing associations formation across state lines will have the intended consequences (improved access at truly affordable prices) will happen?

I don't think anyone (big soulless organizations the exception) would be against improved access at truly affordable prices. That said, their may be blow-back of unintended consequences. Here's where good governance fits. In fact, I believe this negotiations element in our legislative process is where the genius of how our system is most effective. We will have to wait and see how it plays out...Peace.