Hospitalslike retailerscompete for customers. In an age when consumers are flocking online to research and buy products from consumer goods to healthcare, hospitals need to think and act more like online retailers, says new research from PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Hospitals and health systems seeking to avoid losing patients to lower cost providers also should re-evaluate pricing for their healthcare procedures and find new ways to better communicate their pricing structure to cost-conscious consumers, says the report from PwCs Health Research Institute.

Like in online retailingpatients want the lowest price and the best user experience, says PwC.

A growing number of consumers carry high-deductible health plans and shoulder a larger portion of their healthcare costsa prime reason patients are becoming more cost-conscious, says PwC. In 2015, 30% of consumers contacted multiple doctors and health systems about prices, up from 26% in 2014, the PwC report says. In addition, nearly 40% asked about prescription drug and procedure pricing ahead of time in 2015.

One reason for the disparity in pricing is that healthcare providers typically set prices based on pre-negotiated reimbursement schedules with health insurance companies. With making sure patients are charged the same amount for a given service relative to all third-party payers the only regulation governing how much hospitals can charge for a procedure, individual hospitals can set prices as they see fit, which can lead to price disparities, says PwC.

Concurrently, smaller healthcare clinics within pharmacy chains such as CVS Pharmacy or Walgreens, can charge less for the same procedure than a hospital because they have lower cost structures, creating further price disparities, says PwC.

To stay competitive, hospitals should re-evaluate their pricing, especially for common, non-emergency services such as lab tests and imaging. Like with shopping online, patients want more price transparency and price comparison tools from hospitals, says PwC.

A consumer carrying a high deductible health care plan that knows the cost of an upcoming MRI will not meet his deductible, for example, is apt to shop for the lowest cost provider to hold down his out-of-pocket expenses, says PwC Health Research leader Benjamin Isgur.

Hospitals should look for consumer facing technology and ways to make their pricing more transparent to consumers, Isgur says. Most hospitals and doctors office dont publish the cost of medical procedures.

Criteria hospitals can use to determine where they can lower prices include knowing the prices competitors charge for identical procedures, the cost of performing the procedure, and third-party provisions such as fee schedules, says PwC.

Several leading organizations are actively assessing the strategic benefits of eliminating the gap between charges and contracted or negotiated rates, says Joe Sabatina, director for PwCs Health Industries Advisory Practice. This is a significant undertaking, but one that more and more organizations are considering.

Bundling of services and putting that information online is another way hospitals can compete on price. A patient undergoing a hip replacement, for example, is typically charged a la carte for the surgery, the operating room, the anesthesiologist, surgical visits and any other associated costs, says PwC. Determining a fixed, all-inclusive price for the surgery can hold down the overall cost, which is apt to appeal to consumers and insurance carriers looking for the lowest cost providers, the PwC report says.

Bundling services can also provide hospitals and health systems an incentive to ensure a procedure is done right the first time to prevent unexpected follow-up visits, such as treatment for a post-surgical infection. With bundled pricing, the provider only gets paid once, so bundling can be an incentive to improve quality, Isgur says.

Higher quality of care can help hospitals justify their pricing for procedures, the PwC report says.