News Releases

HealthCare Consumerism Focus of September Issue Brief

The Center’s latest issue brief, Healthcare Consumerism and the Growing Importance of Patient Decision Making examines the healthcare consumerism movement and the many forms it has taken. Healthcare consumerism is the notion that patient preference should dictate what healthcare markets look like.  Given the opportunity, healthcare economists argue, patients would only choose to buy services that were beneficial and would only pay what was reasonable for them. 

The Center’s issue brief takes a look at the growing healthcare consumerism movement and some of the recent healthcare market developments that are making its proliferation possible. Though high-deductible health plans are often cited as the clearest example of healthcare consumerism, evidence of this trend is apparent throughout the healthcare system. Health insurance exchanges created by health reform, for example, will create a marketplace that allows consumers to more easily compare and buy health insurance. New transparency requirements make it easier for consumers to compare healthcare price and quality. Even decision support tools, which help patients incorporate their own goals into treatment decisions, point to the growing importance of consumer input in the healthcare system.

To read this publication or to see other issue briefs in The Center’s collection, please visit the issue briefs section of our website.