AMA Journal of Ethics^®

Online tools intended to make health care purchasing resemble “consumerism” have had little effect on improving transparency for patients.

Dr Jing Li joins Ethics Talk to discuss her article, coauthored with Dr Robert Tyler Braun, Sophia Kakarala, and Dr Holly G. Prigerson: “How Should Cost-Informed Goals of Care Decisions Be Facilitated at Life’s End?”

Sarosh Nagar joins Ethics Talk to discuss his article, coauthored with Drs Leah Z. Rand and Aaron S. Kesselheim: “What Should US Policymakers Learn From International Drug Pricing Transparency Strategies?”

These key steps are ones health sector stakeholders should take to help patients and clinicians use pricing information to inform health decision making.

This article analyzes differences in prescription drug pricing transparency practices among 3 Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development member nations.

Dr Harold A. Pollack joins Ethics Talk to discuss his article: “Necessity for and Limitations of Price Transparency in American Health Care.”

Negative health consequences from costly care are referred to as financial toxicity and should be included in informed consent discussions.

Dr Christopher Whaley joins Ethics Talk to discuss his article, coauthored with Dr Austin Frakt: “If Patients Don’t Use Available Health Service Pricing Information, Is Transparency Still Important?”

Dr Nisha M. Patel joins Ethics Talk to discuss her article, coauthored with Drs Jesse M. Ehrenfeld and Brian J. Miller: “What Should ‘Shopping’ Look Like in Actual Practice?”

For dying patients and their loved ones to make informed decisions, physicians must share adequate information about prognoses, prospective benefits and harms of specific interventions, and costs.