Patient-driven healthcare could be in the future

With the Affordable Care Act altering the way Americans purchase health insurance, some experts believe more attention will focus on patient-driven health care strategies in the future, Communities Digital News reported.

"We try to find out what our patients want and help them make an informed decision," said Dr. Margaret Chesney, the head of U.C. San Francisco's Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, according to the source. "Once they've decided what they want, our job is to provide the pieces that they need and that we feel comfortable with."

There are still some boundaries in patient-driven health care, since some in dire physical or mental states might not be able to give their best personal opinion on their health status, the source reported.

Paul Levy, a former president and CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, explained that patients shouldn't necessarily take over the roles that are performed by doctors or nurses, but that it could be beneficial to work more collaboratively with patients to address issues that they would like to understand better, the Health Care Blog reported.

According to Communities Digital News, it's uncertain whether patient-driven healthcare will continue to increase, but it could change the U.S. healthcare system even more.