Selling individual components of a service or product separately rather than as a package. Sometimes unbundling is done for the convenience of the customer, but often it is done in order to sell the same components for a greater total price than if they were packaged together (bundled). For example, a complete automobile can be purchased for far less than its parts. In health care, the care of a fracture, for example, may be priced to include the diagnosis, treatment, and aftercare as single package (bundled); alternatively, diagnosis, setting of the fracture, applying the cast, removing the cast, and other services may be priced individually (unbundled).
Separately billing for laboratory tests or procedures that are normally linked in order to extract more money from a payer (such as Medicare). This practice is illegal in the U.S.