Market magic mysteries of medicine

"but markets don't do very well when consumers have bad information or are in a panic" - Exactly. While this is one doctor's office that is concerned and proactive regarding prices (and consumer's ability and interest to pay), I doubt very many of them have done so well. There is not as yet an ability to shop for a particular doctor (all that well) based on price AND quality, in other words the economic value of the doctor. That needs to change.

My understanding is one of the things pushed for presently is to attempt to do this in some respect by creating more standards of care through distributing value assessments of types of care. I think of this as a half-step. We as consumers of health care decisions may still not have this information. But at least if doctors know the potential value (not just cost) of using a particular procedure or test, they're more or less able to judge its effectiveness in a particular circumstance. Their own portion of the asymmetrical information problem diminishes.