Health Economics: From Patient to Consumer.

In the past, the individual using medical care was generally referred to as the "patient", with this word's connotations of an individual who was passive, forbearing and accepting. The emerging view is to look at the individual using medical care as a consumer, with this word's very different connotations of a more active role. In this paper, I will trace the differences in these two views and their relation to health policy, competition and health plan design.