Part 1: Healthcare Consumers

Discuss ways in which healthcare consumers are different from consumers of other goods and services.

Part 2: Redefinition of the Patient

As healthcare has evolved so has the concept of a patient or consumer of healthcare. Technology and culture are among the many variables that have affected our concept of a healthcare patient. Consider these items among the others noted in your text:

• What has most influenced the way you view yourself as a consumer of healthcare?

• What factors led to the redefinition of the patient as a consumer in the late twentieth century?