Shared databases will make it easier for providers to work together and communicate about a patient's needs. The boom in the use of email already is making interaction between physicians and patients more convenient. Information on doctors. When asked in focus groups what kinds of information they want in healthcare, consumers ask overwhelmingly for information about what other consumers thought about their healthcare providers. In the future, Herzlinger predicts, consumers will have access to online and print reviews of doctors from other patients.
Students evaluate professors.
She also predicts that consumers will be able to rate different options in healthcare plans and services as they now rate options on appliances and cars. Herzlinger doesn't believe so. Physicians and their patients, she says, can both be winners in the new healthcare arena if medicine adopts strategies from focused businesses. Market forces will put decision-making back in the hands of physicians. Those who actually provide the care are the ones who best understand how to restructure the caregiving process.