Patients As Consumers - Managing Healthcare and the Healthcare Team

Things change over time. That's pretty much a given concept. Attitudes change over time, some more quickly than others. When I was growing up, doctors were... well, revered is probably a pretty good word. Everyone respected doctors. It was pretty much unheard of for anyone to question them. When the doctor told you to "take your medicine," you did it, without ever even thinking about why. We would never have dreamed that a doctor might have been mistaken about anything, ever.

It's not cliché to say that things were simpler then; it's just a fact. There were far fewer medications, fewer specialists. What we're finding now is that it's also true that many illnesses and diseases went undiagnosed and untreated. Migraine disease and many headache disorders are among those...

Patients are consumers, customers...
So, who has the patient become? The patient has become a consumer, a customer of health care services. The Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary defines a consumer as, "one that utilizes economic goods," and a customer as, "one that purchases a commodity or service." The Merriam-Webster Medical Dictionary defines a patient as, "a client for medical service." This makes a great deal of sense, especially given the rising cost and percentage of income associated with health care...

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