Changing roles for consumers

There are significant implications for hospitals and health systems when consumers become more proactive about their health care. Patients increasingly expect to make the decisions about their own care. At the same time, their out-of-pocket costs for premiums, deductibles and co-payments are going up. Given the significant shift in the consumer/patient role, the American Hospital Association's Long-Range Policy Committee focused its 2006 activity on two major themes related to the growing presence of consumerism. Hospitals were developed to meet social needs. Consumer empowerment and increased consumer cost sharing will alter some historical needs and introduce new ones.