Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
10-2008
Inclusive Pages
81-95
Keywords
Health Care Costs; Patient Needs; Quality improvement
Abstract
With health care costs increasing, some policymakers have sought to make patients better health care consumers through increased cost-sharing linked with greater information on the cost of care. These may be successful cost containment strategies in the short term. But patients are just as likely to forgo necessary as unnecessary care, which ultimately leads to greater demand for more intensive and expensive care in the long term. Patients can, however, play an important role in preventing the onset of chronic conditions or preventing deterioration in health once they have been diagnosed with a chronic condition. In this chapter we discuss tools available to identify and empower—or "activate"—patients to be better managers of their health. We also suggest heath care delivery reform options to encourage the expansion of programs that empower patients to improve their health and control personal health care costs, thereby improving health outcomes and containing costs for all.
APA Citation
Hibbard, J., & Hayes, K. (2008). Second-generation consumerism: increasing consumer activation to improve health outcomes and lower costs for patients with chronic disease. In The health care delivery system: a blueprint for reform (pp. 81-95). Washington, D.C.: Center for American Progress and the Institute on Medicine as a Profession.
Open Access
1
Comments
Full text of book available at: http://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/issues/2008/10/pdf/health_delivery_full.pdf.