Health Consumerism — 9 Trends to Watch
// By Ken Robbins //
Health consumerism continues to revolutionize the health care industry. The days when patients blindly followed their doctors’ recommendations — often without a single question asked — are long gone. Today, physicians and health care organizations face a much more engaged and empowered population. Patients are playing by a different set of rules and increasingly calling the shots. Providers unable to pivot and meet increasing demands of an informed clientele find themselves left behind.
A perfect storm of multiple factors has contributed to the drastic transformation of the health care sector. Soaring costs, rising consumer expectations, and novel technologies are a big part of the equation, and all these combined put extreme pressure on the health sector to reinvent the way it provides care. To better understand how the massive shift brought on by health consumerism is turning the health industry upside down, it is essential to take a close look at nine trends that are reshaping the landscape.