It remains to be seen whether that improvement is on the way, despite the fact that outcomes for patients would be better if they could know in advance how much medications and treatment will cost them. Not only are patients worried about the bills, if they do try to find a cheaper provider, they worry — often justifiably so — that the quality of the care they receive might not be on a par with a more expensive one.

In fact, a recent Modern Healthcare article finds that the combination of potential problems surrounding cost and quality worries can lead patients to simply skip treatments or medications — and that makes everything more expensive, and probably even more dangerous, down the road.

That’s not to say they don’t try to shop around, but it’s not easy to get the answers without help. Another Modern Healthcarereport highlights the fact that simply calling doctors’ offices and/or hospitals won’t necessarily result in getting the information patients need to make informed decisions, much less save money.

Of course, some hospitals are trying to get out in front of the problem of patients possibly not being able to pay for care by trying to get them to pay for it before they even get it — but at least they’re giving patients estimates of the cost ahead of time.