The article in Box 14.2 describes similarities between the hospital and airlines industries.

What are some signifi cant differences that may prevent or minimize some of the outcomes for hospitals that are suggested by that article?

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BOX 14.2 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