Fair point. But by the same token, the closer to an emergency good a procedure is, the less likely people are to buy it. To illustrate: I know someone who took

Fair point. But by the same token, the closer to an emergency good a procedure is, the less likely people are to buy it. To illustrate: I know someone who took off the top of her finger in a car door. She picked it up and drove to the nearest hospital. Database or no, the "cheapest ER near her" wouldn't have been an option. Admittedly, this is extremely, but it still communicates the point. Let's also not forget that cheaper often is correlated with a worse standard of care. The nearest ER happened to be a hospital with an expert hand surgeon on staff, and the hand of the lady in question looks nearly the same. The "cheapest ER near her" would likely have stitched up a stump. Functional, but inferior. Furthermore, the standard of care becomes much more important with anything life-threatening.