The medical community's shift toward consumerism has been in general slow, cautious and kind of all over the place. (Photo: Shutterstock)

As if the trauma of integrating electronic health records weren’t bad enough, now the medical profession faces an even more difficult transition: regarding patients as consumers.

This latest affront to the profession—one that affects medical insurers as well—comes as a direct result of the national effort to encourage people to take greater control of their medical care. Obamacare made citizens aware that they had choices and challenged them to educate themselves. Suddenly, yesterday’s patient became tomorrow’s potential customer.

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Dan Cook

Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.

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