The Healthcare System as a Consumer-Focused Industry

Consumerism in Healthcare
Name
Institution
Consumerism in Healthcare
Introduction to the Topic
The contemporary healthcare system is increasingly becoming a consumer focused industry. This new trend among consumers has been spurred by the rising cost of health insurance, the rise in high deductible health schemes and the proliferation of the social media. The new breed of empowered consumers in the health care sector has forced the industry to realize and deal with patient preferences. The growing participation of the consumer in health care issues has forced health care providers to rethink the ways in which they offer health services to consumers (Employee Benefit Research Institute, 2015). For this reason, the consumer perception is important as it helps healthcare providers to tailor their services to meet consumer demands.
According to research (Jason, 2014), 36% of American citizens believe that health care has grown worse over the last five years. This figure is a significant drop from 51% of consumers who 10 years felt that the health care system was g...