You read that right: There’s an article in the New York Times this morning (I think you will need to "login" to read it, but there’s no cost) that talks about a hospital in Pennsylvania that has launched a program to reduce hospital costs and stays by guaranteeing their work with a 90-day warranty (no mention of "money-back", although I guess in the case of heart surgery you probably wouldn’t be in much of a position to ask for your money back). The story goes on to talk about how mortality rates in hospitals for certain types of heart surgery can range from 0-10%, depending on the hospital chosen, so this group is trying to differentiate itself by making doctors adhere to a 40-point checklist designed to ensure all patients receive the same care and giving patients the ability to return for additional followup work for no extra charge. It’s not hard to see the economic value of what they’re trying to do — if an insurance company can pay a fixed price for a certain heart surgery and then essentially receive guarantee that there will be no more costs after the surgery, it should lower the cost to the insurer, which in the long run should lower the cost of insurance. It’s an interesting idea, anyway, and one that follows the supply/demand lessons I remember from my economics classes in college.