There has never been a time in history when the consumer, and in this case the patient, have had so much purchasing power. Prior to facing the physician, the patient enters the exam room equipped with information, symptoms, possible causes, new medicine, recent treatment practices, etc. The physician is put in an awkward position to have to answer to what the patient brings to the table.
The lines of the communication and acquiring information are not longer the same. It is time for health care providers to embrace the new methods of communication to better provide for their patients.
