--- title: 'Healthy Savings: Fewer Lab Tests' description: Exposure to prices can inoculate you against overspending -- even when it's not your money. A new Johns Hopkins study found that doctors shown the… authors: - name: Amanda Gengler url: https://money.com/author/amanda-gengler-2/ at_money_since: 2012 articles: 33 covers: - Career Advice - Credit - Housing - Insurance - Mortgages - Shopping - Technology social: - https://x.com/GenglerA former_staff: true published: '2013-06-28T00:21:26.000Z' modified: '2013-06-28T00:21:26.000Z' section: Personal Finance tags: - costs of health care - doctors - Health Care - health costs - Hotels - Investing - medical bills - mutual fund fees - price transparency - pricing information word_count: 208 canonical: https://money.com/healthy-savings-fewer-lab-tests/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![130625123330-medical-tests](https://img.money.com/2013/06/130625123330-medical-tests11.png) *When doctors know a lab test's cost, expenses are cut 9.6%.* Exposure to prices can inoculate you against overspending -- even when it's not your money. A new Johns Hopkins study found that doctors shown the bill for lab tests ordered fewer of them, cutting expenditures 9.6%. "Most medical care is delivered in a cost vacuum," says co-author Leonard Feldman. "Information helps providers be more cost-conscious." Here are other ways in which greater awareness of prices can promote healthy savings for you. ### Prescription for savings **Health care:** To better weigh costs, check if your insurer lets you compare provider pricing. And to get your doctor thinking about your outlays, ask him or her whether less expensive treatments or fewer tests will suffice. **Investing:** A new study finds the hidden cost of mutual funds' trades runs to 1.4% of assets annually, more than the stated expenses of the average fund. Best deals: midsize and smaller funds trading less than 60% of holdings a year, says co-author Roger Edelen of the University of California at Davis. **Travel**: Fees can add 5% or more to a hotel's rate, says New York University's Bjorn Hanson. The latest gotcha: a charge to park in the front lot. Ask about fees beforehand, note the rep's name, and refer to it if surprises pop up later. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/healthy-savings-fewer-lab-tests/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Personal Finance", "item": "https://money.com/personal-finance/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Saving Money", "item": "https://money.com/saving-money/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Healthy Savings: Fewer Lab Tests" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/healthy-savings-fewer-lab-tests/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/healthy-savings-fewer-lab-tests/", "name": "Healthy Savings: Fewer Lab Tests", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2013-06-28T00:21:26.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/healthy-savings-fewer-lab-tests/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/healthy-savings-fewer-lab-tests/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2013-06-28T00:21:26.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "Healthy Savings: Fewer Lab Tests", "articleSection": "Personal Finance", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2013/06/130625123330-medical-tests11.png", "width": 2058, "height": 3083, "caption": "130625123330-medical-tests" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Amanda Gengler", "url": "https://money.com/author/amanda-gengler-2/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/amanda-gengler-2/#author", "image": "https://img.money.com/2014/05/14-05-21_bio_author_genglar.jpg?quality=85&w=190&h=190&crop=1", "email": "agengler@moneymail.com", "sameAs": [ "https://x.com/GenglerA" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2013-06-28T00:21:26.000Z", "description": "Exposure to prices can inoculate you against overspending -- even when it's not your money. 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