For any skeptic that doesnt believe a consumer healthcare revolution is happening

For those of you that still maintain that the traditional doctor patient relationship is not undergoing a fundamental change daily...then you are not reading your newspaper...
Everyday, there is another company or another initiative embraced by our health insurers to shift the balance of power of healthcare to the consumer.

Here are some daily snippets ....
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Wisconsin recently launched it's transparency initiative by giving it's 3 million members access to Anthterm's Care Comparison, an online cost camparison tools to compare prices and number of procedurs by hopsitals for 39 eleactive and high volume expensive inpatient procedures.

Transparency is the core of the consumer's "power" in understanding healthcare..so although this comparison tool falls short of a more comprehensive cost comparison solution..it is a start.

Cigna offers Online second opinions. The Cleveland Clinic's MyConsult will be offered to Cigna's members. A nurse coordinator follows up with the person to ensure the information is understood.

Online consultations have been growing in acceptance amongst patients and physicians and provide us with evidence that the technology aspects of consumer directed healthcare are being adopted despite skeptics view to the contrary as it relates to this physician patient interaction.

Teladoc is another one of these services..but more controversial..Teladoc provides physician "consultations" for select services not all problems just simple ones..

The "minute clinic" model in retail centers is another example of moving healthcare away from the doctor and making it selective as to complexity but in a "fast food environment".