The Price Is Right: Assessing Surgical Cost Awareness of Residents and Staff Across Surgical Specialties at a Single Training Hospital

Cost awareness among surgical staff and trainees was low and did not improve with experience. Broad representation of all surgical specialties is a particular strength of this study, while limitations include inherent response bias and a single-payer structure which may restrict generalizability to civilian healthcare settings. Formal educational interventions should be considered to improve cost literacy as a component of systems-based practice competencies.