As her husband's mother battled Alzheimer's over three years, Sarah Wilcox learned how to navigate the health care maze.

"I felt fortunate that I knew enough about the health care system that I could help my husband and my mother-in-law to sort through the expenses and options," says Wilcox, a Chicago Web entrepreneur.

Her mother-in-law lost the battle and passed away in April. The experience Wilcox gained was put to use, however. She used it to form a company that helps others who find themselves in her predicament. Wilcox, 53, started a subscriber-based website, MyHealthandMoney.com, in October to help consumers better understand and manage the economics of the health care system.

As out-of-pocket health care expenses rise and companies look at ways to shift insurance costs to their employees, consumers need information on pricing for hospital procedures, medical tests, and medicines, she says.

Entrepreneurs like Wilcox are starting new health care services to take advantage of trends that shift more responsibility for paying medical bills to the patients. Tim Godzich, a serial entrepreneur in Buffalo, opened Liazon Corp. two years ago to help employers administer consumer-directed health plans, while James Plante started Pathway Genomics, a low-cost genetic-testing service based in San Diego.

What these entrepreneurs have in common are businesses that help individuals with health care choices. Overall, health care is one of the fastest-growing industries and is spurring hundreds of entrepreneurs to start new businesses each year. Venture capital firms invested $8.2 billion in 734 health care firms last year, according to the National Venture Capital Association.

The Kauffman Foundation, a major funder of startup businesses, has seen the surge in new health care businesses in recent years.

"I would suspect it will continue to increase," says Lesa Mitchell, vice president of advancing innovations at Kauffman. "Entrepreneurs will gravitate where a market doesn't function."

Wilcox says the need for consumer health information is greater than ever. On average, Americans pay $1,000 a year for out-of-pocket health care expenses, she says. Her target customers are the 133 million Americans with chronic conditions, such as arthritis, migraines, back pain, and diabetes. In addition, there are 32 million people who take more than two medicines a day, she says.

Too many people are oblivious to the strange economics of the health care system, where common hospital procedures can vary in price by $100,000 or more and branded drugs can be 30 times higher than generic equivalents. Medical bills can ruin lives, and most people don't know how to negotiate prices because they don't understand the system.

"I've been watching patients for 30 years struggle with costs," Wilcox says. "I've seen people lose their homes…people get stuck with hundreds of thousands of dollars in bills because their spouse gets sick. Not only do they lose spouses, they lose their homes."

She started her business with a small staff: seven contractors in a warehouse space above a machine shop on Chicago's North Side. She won't be profitable this year but expects to turn a profit in 2010.