ABSTRACT
A report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation succinctly states both the hope and the challenges for consumers actively participating in their own health care. A recent poll focusing on older Americans found that about half had actually set up a patient portal for themselves. Women more often set up a portal than men, and those with some college education and those with higher incomes are more likely to set up a portal than those with high school education and lower incomes. Telemedicine can provide significant benefits to patients, including better access for patients, reduction in costs, greater compliance of patients with prescribed treatment regimens and greater access to care should emergencies arise. Many companies entering the health care industry have focused initially on the patient as consumer and have developed products intended to be sold directly to them. The key transactional relationship in health care is the one that occurs between the physician and the patient.
