Me, Amateur “M.D.”
Consumers, marketers and the healthcare industry are actively writing the latest chapter in the evolving chronicles of consumer control. The explosion of retail healthcare—such as Wal-Mart's expansion of Redi-Clinics(1)—shows how marketers are giving consumers the opportunity to reshape their relationship with the family doctor. But while greater access to healthcare information presents the opportunity for consumers to guide themselves on healthcare decisions, they still face challenges in managing the volume of healthcare information that's available to them from myriad sources. This week's MONITOR Minute explores how consumers are pursuing self-directed care— and the information challenges...